Interesting front page News & Record story on the Greensboro-Randolph megasite. The gist? Trump administration trade policy—or rather possible future trade policy–could be beneficial:
“The tables have turned,” said Michael C. Randle, editor and publisher of Southern Business & Development magazine. “It is now cheaper to manufacture (in the U.S.) for foreign companies than it is to manufacture in their own countries, including all of Europe, Japan and most of China. The U.S., especially the South and, of course, Mexico, are the low-cost leaders for manufacturing in the world.”
Without any clear direction from the White House on its future trade policies, foreign companies are not taking chances that new tariffs or trade deals will limit their ability to sell into the U.S. market.
“If you’re an executive with an international company and you sell into the U.S., then you’re going to be hedging your bets,” said Christopher Chung, chief executive officer of the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the public-private agency that leads industrial recruiting for the state.
Imagining that the mere existence of the Trump administration would accelerate interest in the megasite is something that would cause the heads of some local leaders and mainstream media types to spin out of control.
