Chinese Wage Rates Decimate California Industries, U.S.

Tucked away in an industrial section of Sun Valley, QMP Inc. has built a steady flow of international customers for its water filtration systems.

But now the global economy is biting back.

"We've been losing customers because they want us to match the price of the Chinese products, which is impossible," said Vidal, whose business employs 65. "If the situation doesn't change soon, we'll have to either close the company or play the same game and move our manufacturing operation to China."

That cheap offshore production, combined with the region's shrinking defense industry, has caused steady manufacturing job losses in the county over the last decade. Apparel, furniture, plastics and fabricated metal products industries have been hit the hardest.

Although Los Angeles County remains the nation's largest manufacturing center, average annual manufacturing employment fell 27% to 462,000 jobs from 1996 to 2006.

*The above article has been excerpted from Richard Verrier’s article “Standing up to China,” featured in the Los Angeles Times.