60‘ catamaran cruise

Grouper,

I have spent a large portion of my life sailing the Carribean ( 10 years), then lived overseas for 3 years, and still have a house in Jamaica where I do a good bit of business (about 1/4 of my clients are international). So ya I have been out of the US a few times.

My point was that in most countries import duties, tarrifs, and VAT can eat up a huge percentage of the purchase price of new goods, not profit to the manufacturer or retailer. In Jamaica for instance where a new car has a 100% import duty the cost of cars is.... Double what they are in the US. the same duty applies to new diesel engines by the way, however if that engine is being used in new construction, and is then sold internationally the duty is waivd. This waiver process is available in pretty much every country though the specifics may change.

Generally in manufacturing circles is is assumed that the cost of goods decreases by around 20-25% by manufacturing in China vs the US. Almost all of which is ascribed to the decreased labor and regulatory costs. The cost of raw materials is generally not considered a real difference since many of the materials are sold on the world stage as commodities, or near commodities (steel).

For instance I just ran the numbers and I can buy cold rolled sheet steel in New Orleans for about 5% more than the exact same sheet in Sydney Aus. Though it looks like galvanized is slightly cheaper in Sydney. The price for the same in Chine was a little cheaper abt 7% than the New Orleans steel, but the china stuff was ExW vs FoB which probably explains the difference.