While I was digging through the latest excellent Glass
Magazine this week, I got totally immersed on the “Letters to the Editor”
page. Usually that page brings some
great insights and this month was no different.
In fact this edition brought an interesting rebuttal from John D’Amario
of Yuanda USA Corp. on the whole adventure of tariffs of Chinese aluminum. It was a very colorful letter defending the
rights of Chinese manufacturers to come sell in North America. Part of his approach was to go with the argument
of “welcome to the evolution” meaning the way of the world continues to lean
towards China in so many other categories, so it’s not a surprise that it
continues its dive into building products.
He also basically said don’t blame China for your lack of
competitiveness and so on. However the
one item he did not mention in his letter was the fact that many, if not all,
of the Chinese manufacturers get government subsidies. That fact takes out any notion of a “level”
playing field. I have gone on the record
before about other items in this situation that make it incredibly frustrating
to compete with and truly makes it unfair.
End of the day though it is not going away… this debate will continue…
but I think it’s important to note that North American producers are at a
distinct disadvantage that they have to deal with (and some do very well) every
day.
Elsewhere…
-- By the way, the rest of the magazine this month was strong
as always. If you are not getting it,
you need to make that happen so sign up or get it via the App.
-- One of the big focus items this month was the GlassBuild
show and I was blown away at the layout of some of the products that will be on
display at the show. I know I have been
promoting it relentlessly, but my gosh seeing it in the spread really hit
home. You have everything from one man
glass lifters to glass flooring to tons of new hardware options and so on. Hundreds and hundreds of new and diverse
products will be on display. In any case, the time is now… the hotel blockby the way was extended after so many folks read my blog last Tuesday and must’ve
swamped the system. So you now have til August
10th to get the great rates.
Ya gotta be there…
-- Did you see the rankings of the “happiest places in the
world” came out end of last week? The US
of A came in at #11. My good friends in
Canada checked in at #5 (though if they ever do “best dressed country,” Canada wins
hands down because of Walker Glass) The
top 4 were Denmark, Finland, Norway, and the Netherlands. The US has had the same score and percentages
by the way since 1992…. Which is really funny because I am sure a lot of people
think our world and country have changed pretty dramatically since then.
-- For the most part I have been very positive and optimistic
about our industry economic trends. I
have been cheerleading like crazy.
However more recently I have been struggling and turning towards the pessimistic
side as even positive news like the AIA saying last week that 2013 will bring
some decent growth segments to our world actually did not impress me. Just not feeling it as I have been built up
and let down so many times…
-- There have been tons of amazing moments at the Olympics so
far, but one of my favorites was the vault by McKayla Moroney in the Gymnastics
team competition. She is a vault
specialist I guess and her main reason for being there was to come through with
a jaw-dropping performance… and she did… and then some. When I saw it I was blown away, pure amazing
perfection. Also if you had the chance
to see NBC’s look back at the 1996 gymnastic team (Kerri Strug and the
Magnificent 7) that was excellent TV.
-- The NFL has kicked off their pre-season… schools will be
back in session soon… seriously is summer over?
Is it me or did the summer just fly by…
LINKS of the WEEK
-- Fellow road warriors… check this story out for the airports
known to spread the most airborne disease…
-- Wild trivia of the week…. Since 1912 one University here in
the US has had someone win a gold medal at the Olympics. That is insane!!
-- I fully expect this to be my kids in a few years… and Iactually would enjoy it probably.
VIDEO of the WEEK
If you want to go back to memory lane… here’s the Kerri
Strug Olympic Vault… Wow….
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