There are assumptions being made in this thread that, while they apply in many industries, do not really fit boat building. Boat building did not move from the US. It was never really here in much greater ratio than it is today. The European and Asian builders were always there. If labor rates were the key issue then do you think Italy would be leading the way, with the UK, France, Germany, and the Netherlands all having sizable shares.
Boat building in volume is very capital intensive and those willing to invest in it have largely not been in the US. That's where China has an even greater influence as two of the largest builders in Europe are owned by Chinese industrialists. One major US builder that has maintained it's place in the industry is Westport and they've done that through private ownership by Edson and now by Chouest, two private owners who are lifelong US boat enthusiasts.
Hatteras remains under ownership of Venture capitalists. Now, that can work, but let's look at Glastron, Four Winns and Scarab who were owned in that manner and when it came time to sell, there was no US buyer so Beneteau was the buyer. Sounded great. Is until you read that Beneteau is eliminating four brands including Glastron and Scarab and essentially eliminating Four Winns as they're converting it to an outboard Catamaran company.
As builders in the US have experienced trouble, there haven't been US industrialists ready to step in. Look at Tolly and Post, purchased by small businessmen and discontinued.
Meanwhile, the builders of boats used mostly on US lakes are owned largely by public US companies and they continue to be.
Now, what if the US makes it very difficult to buy new boats from China? It would likely hurt a couple of builders but not the Chinese boat building as a whole. Why? First, the US isn't the only country with buyers. Plenty of Asian and European buyers. Second, if US citizens still want the boat, they just won't import into the US. They'll flag it offshore and they'll get cruising permits and every year they'll run it to the Bahamas and back and renew.
With a long time industry pro, a few years ago, I looked at acquiring a brand built in Asia with the intent of moving it's building to the US, a brand selling a large percentage to US customers. Financially, it would have worked. Plenty of places to build and costs very little different when considering freight. Problem was the owners weren't going to sell to anyone with plans to move it.
Look at Brunswick's struggles to sell Hatteras and finally found Versa to make the purchase. Look again at their struggles to sell Sea Ray and they never found a buyer and gave up. There are just no US companies or individuals both capable and willing to make such a purchase.
This is so in contrast to apparel for instance, where the US led the way until lower labor costs led to it moving offshore, initially to the South and then to Asia. Apparel is a labor intensive industry. Boat building is capital intensive. Shipping costs in apparel will never come close to the labor savings. Shipping costs of boats are significant and make up for a good part of any labor savings.
One other factor in Chinese manufacturing specifically. The US led the Industrial Revolution. The Chinese then took over the leadership. Not only did industrialists invest in companies, the invested in technology. Just look at some of the manufacturing facilities in China and at the investments in the most advanced equipment. China is losing business in some industries to countries with lower labor costs, but their factories are truly state of the art compared to many US factories. US manufacturers were often short sighted and driven by preserving cash so not making investments.
Why is so much automobile manufacturing now in the US? Largely because foreign companies were willing to make the kinds of investments in facilities and equipment they did in Japan and Germany. Making that investment, it was quite profitable to build in the US and the labor costs became a non-factor. Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Hyundai/Kia, Mercedes all had what was lacking in the US, the capital to invest and the willingness to do so. Within our business, we have many company cars and trucks. We also manage a lot of school buses. We have Honda cars, we have Mercedes vans and trucks, we have Mercedes buses and they were all built in the US. (We also have some Ford vans).
