JEFFERSON TWP — The promise that China could help U.S. companies save money combined with the global economic downturn starting in 2008, found many of Penn United Technologies’ customers looking to China.

But some of those companies that left Penn United are starting to come back — maybe not to Jefferson Township, but at least leaving China.

Jerry Purcell, Penn United’s vice president, and Dave Frengel, the company’s director of government affairs, said July 11 there is a trickle of return.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a trend, but we have had a few companies come back,” Purcell said.

But the companies that have left or are leaving Chinese manufacturing are more likely to move to Central and South America, especially at this time, Brazil.

“Companies have found that products made in China definitely have quality issues and the cost to transport products out of China, which are subject to taxes, just doesn’t result in the savings they thought they’d have,” Purcell said.

The larger problem Purcell and Frengel said is the unfair trade practices China and other countries use when it comes to the United States, such as tariffs and currency manipulation.

“That puts us behind the eight ball because China has lower labor wages, the government boosts the currency and then there are the taxes that are applied to the machine companies’ move to China to make their products, as well as the products that leave China once completed,” Frengel said.

Furthermore, the men said, the U.S. government does not enforce trade laws.

Why not?

“Because they (politicians) are afraid that a trade war would follow, plus they don’t want to jeopardize the support they receive from large companies,” Purcell said. “Meanwhile, we are a company that plays by the rules, so what are we supposed to do?”

Penn United is looking for industries that have not interested China, such as the oil and gas industry, where the majority of components are still made in the United States, and medical components, although Purcell said, “China’s most recent five-year plan shows that they are ready to move on both of those industries.”

The lack of enforcement in global trade is not helping manufacturing in the United States or the nation’s economy, Frengel said.

And the result of the global economic crisis is that manufacturers have and are learning how to do more with less.

“When I started here 22 years ago, we had three or four guys per press, checking quality until a component would come out that showed the tooling machines needed to be readjusted, and that shut down the entire process for a period of time,” Frengel said.

“Now, because of technology we designed, a computer is checking the quality of each component made and adjusting the machines all the time, and there is only one man running four machines,” he said.

As for the solution to global trade problems, both Frengel and Purcell ask that people just get involved.

“Congress does respond to its constituency, it’s just that we aren’t talking about trade,” Purcell said.

Frengel said he asks people contact their chambers of commerce, county commissioners, state elected officials, as well as those in Congress.

“Passing a resolution to support trade laws and U.S. manufacturers does make a difference, because Congress can see that trade is an issue that is important to everyone,” Frengel said.