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August 20, 2014

How one U.S. factory fought cheap imports

  • “Factory Man” tells the story of one furniture manufacturer who stayed in business despite a flood of overseas goods by modernizing his factory and restructuring products.
    • By CHRISTOPHER S. RUGABER
    AP Economics Writer

    WASHINGTON — Much of U.S. manufacturing has been decimated in the past decade by less expensive imports from China, but it didn't necessarily have to be that way, according to a compelling new book by journalist Beth Macy.

    Macy's book, “Factory Man,” tells the story of one manufacturer who fought back. John Bassett III, a wealthy scion of a furniture dynasty in southwestern Virginia, responded to a flood of overseas goods by modernizing his factory and restructuring its products. More controversially, he successfully petitioned the U.S. government for protective tariffs on imported Chinese furniture, alienating many of his retailer customers. Those efforts kept his company, Vaughan-Bassett, in business.


     
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