BLI SW7 - made in Vietnam?

[thomasjmdavis]

Does anyone know whether these Vietnamese factories are new Vietnamese companies, or are they Vietnamese subsidiaries of the Chinese manufacturing companies that were previously making the models?  It seems like the same tooling, and over the past 40 years, it has been quite difficult to get tooling back from the Chinese manufacturing firms and move it somewhere else (or so we've been told by companies that used to make their products in the US or Europe).

[kscessandriver]

I would guess it's the same tooling. China moves stuff out of China itself, to get around tariff issues. Lots of SE Asia countries produce solar panels now, that are simply assembled there and shipped to the US, from components that came from China.

[NSEGeorge]

Today's announcement places tariffs coming for items coming from Viet Nam at 20%. It is unclear how this will affect pricing of smaller industries (Model Trains are a relatively small industry) but it WILL affect them.

[nkalanaga]

ESM sent their quarterly update email today, and noted that their wheelset manufacturer is moving production to Vietnam.

"As posted and pinned on our Facebook page on April 11, all mass-production projects including the N scale Trucks and Wheelsets products were suspended indefinitely with the implementation of 145% tariffs on products manufactured in China.  In early May, the United States and China placed a 90-day pause on the implementation of the respective tariffs, which was a large enough window for us to order and receive wheelsets to fortify our on hand stock.  We placed a wheelsets order with our contractor a day after the tariff-pause announcement.  The shipment, which is due to arrive in mid-July, will boost the stock on all our wheelsets variations to meet demand through at least the remainder of this year.  At that point, our wheelsets contractor will have their new facility in Vietnam fully operational, and wheelsets production will be moved there.  Currently, we have low enough stock on two SKUs that they may temporarily fall out of stock.  But unavailability should last less than two weeks if this occurs. Due to avoiding the steep tariff increase, the MSRP of all SKUs in the N scale Trucks and Wheelsets product line will remain as is and not be increased.
  As stated in last quarter's ESM Newsletter, CLICK HERE to see our Wheel Compatibility Chart, to determine which wheelset is appropriate for a model you wish to upgrade.  Also, feel free to advise if there is an N scale model that is not listed, and we will add it to the table.  We continue to expand the styles/packaging as the need or demand warrants. 🚂"

(His bold, not mine)

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I believe Vietnam uses the same 51% ownership rule as much of Asia: 51% of a company needs to be domestically owned. If China manufacturers are moving tooling out of their country it is big news because they would be giving up ownership stake.

I'm in Bangkok right now and the place is absolutely stuffed with Chinese advertising. Problem is locals have been burned so many times by Chinese goods that they mostly avoid them. Chinese car companies are dumping EV inventory here to push domestic production out. Even with a 40-50% tariff, they are undercutting other manufacturers by 30-60%.

Expect to see this in everything from airliners to vacuums.

[Spades]

China economy is booming on exports which are being funded by the state/ banks.  The Chinese economy is shrinking due to the housing crisis aging demographics and youth unemployment.  There is a house for everybody in theory and market is dropping.  So your average citizen is saving even more.  Oh and do they save.

It's a repeat of Japan in the 80's & 90's except Japan's Banks didn't invest in Japanese Companies to boost exports as it was considered risky.  Sure you can make it and stuff it in a warehouse, but that doesn't guarantee a buyer or ROI.

China is facingheadwinds on the commercial front.  Tariffs aren't a POTUS only thing. I think people are missing the GATT.

People with means no matter the nation will always find means to make, move, mask and shelter money.   

[pmpexpress]

ESM sent their quarterly update email today, and noted that their wheelset manufacturer is moving production to Vietnam.

"As posted and pinned on our Facebook page on April 11, all mass-production projects including the N scale Trucks and Wheelsets products were suspended indefinitely with the implementation of 145% tariffs on products manufactured in China.  In early May, the United States and China placed a 90-day pause on the implementation of the respective tariffs, which was a large enough window for us to order and receive wheelsets to fortify our on hand stock.  We placed a wheelsets order with our contractor a day after the tariff-pause announcement.  The shipment, which is due to arrive in mid-July, will boost the stock on all our wheelsets variations to meet demand through at least the remainder of this year.  At that point, our wheelsets contractor will have their new facility in Vietnam fully operational, and wheelsets production will be moved there.  Currently, we have low enough stock on two SKUs that they may temporarily fall out of stock.  But unavailability should last less than two weeks if this occurs. Due to avoiding the steep tariff increase, the MSRP of all SKUs in the N scale Trucks and Wheelsets product line will remain as is and not be increased.
  As stated in last quarter's ESM Newsletter, CLICK HERE to see our Wheel Compatibility Chart, to determine which wheelset is appropriate for a model you wish to upgrade.  Also, feel free to advise if there is an N scale model that is not listed, and we will add it to the table.  We continue to expand the styles/packaging as the need or demand warrants. 🚂"

(His bold, not mine)

"Due to avoiding the steep tariff increase, the MSRP of all SKUs in the N scale Trucks and Wheelsets product line will remain as is and not be increased".

This is no longer the case as Bryan posted on The Railwire on July 15th an "ESM - PRICE INCREASE ON #920160 WHEEL BULK PACKS".

[nkalanaga]

Yeah, I saw that.  That's the way the new world economy goes - unpredictable.