The era of widespread offshoring of manufacturing from the US to China is coming to an end, according to a study that forecasts a renaissance for American production industries over the next five years.
The report by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) predicts that, by 2015 – on the back of good productivity growth and relatively low wages – the US is likely to be slightly ahead of China as a base for making many of the goods destined for sale in North America.
Another key factor is rapidly rising wage growth in many parts of China, which is reducing the incentive to base production in that country for anything other than selling to the large domestic market.