Think it will be difficult to bring back manufacturing to the United States? Getting out of China isn’t so easy either.

All the talk of reshoring manufacturing from China to North America tends to focus on the complexities of establishing domestic production: transportation infrastructure, availability of real estate, the cost of labor, and proximity to multiple tiers of suppliers. But leaving China carries its own set of challenges. What happens to the equipment and intellectual property that gets left behind? What kind of financial penalties is China likely to impose? And can companies that leave China ever return? On this episode, we get answers from Rosemary Coates, founder and executive director of the Reshoring Institute and president of Blue Silk Consulting. We’ll also consider whether the COVID-19 pandemic might be the tipping point that finally entices manufacturers to relocate to North America. Hosted by Bob Bowman, Editor-in-Chief of SupplyChainBrain.

Show notes:

Coates’s reshoring guidebook: 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China.