Plus: New Jobless Claims Drop to Lowest Level Since 2008 and Execs See Manufacturing Jobs Returning to the U.S.

China Slaps Anti-Dumping Duties on U.S.-Made Autos

The Chinese government has imposed anti-dumping and anti-subsidy duties on certain United States vehicle imports, the country’s commerce ministry announced last week. The new tariffs, which took effect on Thursday, will be applied for two years to passenger cars and sports utility vehicles with engine capacities of 2.5 liters or more.

China said an investigation into U.S. auto imports found domestic vehicle manufacturers had suffered “substantial damage” due to dumping and subsidies. The anti-dumping penalties range from 2 percent to 21.5 percent while the anti-subsidy tariffs will be set at a maximum 12.9 percent, the ministry said.

“According to the U.S.-China Business Council, the U.S. exported $4.5 billion worth of vehicles to China in 2010, an increase of over 134 percent from the previous year,” the Detroit Free Press reports. Agence France-Presse says the new tariffs will affect vehicles produced by General Motors, Chrysler Group, BMW Manufacturing and Mercedes-Benz US International, American Honda Motor and Ford Motor Co.

“The new tariffs, totaling up to nearly 22 percent of the import prices, will probably have a mainly symbolic function, rather than reducing the already skimpy sales of such vehicles in China,” the New York Times explains.

Last week’s move was the latest in a series of trade disputes between the world’s two largest economies.

“China and the U.S. are at odds over a slew of trade issues,” the Associated Press notes. “Beijing also has imposed tariffs on imports of U.S. chicken, among other products, while the U.S. has filed complaints against Chinese tariffs on steel and subsidies for wind power equipment.”

New Jobless Claims Down to Lowest Level Since May 2008

New unemployment claims fell by 19,000 to 366,000 in the week ending December 10, continuing a series of drops in recent weeks and putting initial jobless claims at the lowest level since May 2008, according to the U.S. Department of Labor last week.

The figure was lower than forecast by economists polled by Bloomberg News and MarketWatch.

Meanwhile, the four-week moving average dropped by 6,500 to 387,750.

Although the country “added 100,000 or more jobs every month from July through November, the first five-month streak since 2006,” more robust hiring is needed for the national unemployment figure, currently at 8.6 percent, to drop, the Associated Press says. Nariman Behravesh, chief economist at IHS Global Insight, told AP that “hiring numbers will continue to look good but not great.”

Jobless claims have fallen below 400,000, the level historically associated with an improving labor market, in five of the past six weeks.

Execs See Manufacturing Jobs Returning to U.S.

New survey findings indicate that 85 percent of manufacturing executives anticipate certain manufacturing operations returning to the U.S.

In Cook Associates Executive Search‘s poll of nearly 3,000 manufacturing executives primarily in small to midsized U.S. firms, 37 percent of respondents cited overseas costs as the primary factor for a shift toward reshoring. Another 19 percent of respondents cited logistics as the major factor for bringing jobs back to the U.S., and 36 percent cited other issues ranging from high-tech skills shortages overseas, economic/political issues, safety/quality concerns and patriotism.

Whereas cutting costs was an earlier incentive for offshore manufacturing, issues such as wage inflation in China have now led to a reassessment of returning jobs to the U.S., according to Kevin Logterman, managing director of industrial and family business for Cook. Moreover, respondents said that because logistics are complex to begin with, the financial argument has to be compelling and the dynamics are changing.

Research earlier this year suggested that offshoring could prolong the jobless recovery, yet a manufacturing shift could mean opportunities in the U.S.

“With increased manufacturing here in the U.S., we would expect increasing demand for engineering, product development, operations and finance positions,” according to Logterman. The survey identified “low-volume, high-precision, high-mix operations, automated manufacturing and engineered products requiring technology improvements” as the primary forms of manufacturing potentially returning to the U.S.

“In order to stay competitive in a slow economy, respondents are focusing more on quality and customer service as differentiators, both of which are better managed domestically,” Logterman said in a statement.