I appreciate the fact that someone besides myself is finding it very difficult to stay afloat in the mold-making and plastic manufacturing sector. I am a small mold shop that has been fighting off automobile companies, among others, that have gone belly-up owing us a couple hundred thousand dollars — namely Key Plastics LLC and Harman Industries Inc.
They are still running, thanks to people like us who they have taken advantage of by running up their bills and having the courts simply forgive their debts. Besides them, now we have to deal with China and India and anybody else that the North American Free Trade Agreement can find to give away our manufacturing to.
Twenty years down the road, if the United States goes to war, who is going to build the tanks, planes and all the other equipment to win? China?
We need to be able to keep the manufacturing here instead of giving it all away to other countries that, given the right timing, would take our property and destroy us. Rome fell when it tried to save the world. Are we any stronger? I think not. Looks like we would take a chapter from this and apply it to what is happening now. Get ready to work at Wal-Mart or move to another country to find a job.
Louis Svoboda
Dynamic Tool and Die
Dandridge, Tenn.