While the''global economy continues its growth trend, the health of the U.S. behemoth economy is beginning to send worrying signals that hint at a possible stalling of the expansion that began in June 2009. The reasons behind the negative outlook are primarily domestic political uncertainty and the critical and revisionist attitude of the U.S. central administration toward international agreements and relations with various trading partners.
Positive signals coming from Japan and the Eurozone, important drivers of the global economy, and the depreciation of the U.S. currency, should support, in the medium to long term, a rise, significant, in the manufacturing output of the North American country, at least for the next decade mitigating the negative growth factors.
The disastrous impact on oil production of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas and other Gulf states, could create problems for the U.S. manufacturing industry, during 2018, driving up the cost of crude oil.
Growing political-military tensions between Washington and North Korea pose a risk factor not only for the U.S. economy but also for the economies of neighboring Asian countries.
Last September, the Manufacturers' Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) released its forecast for U.S. manufacturing output, which indicated subdued GDP growth of 1.7 percent over the three-year period 2018-2020, in contrast to manufacturing output growth of 2.2 percent over the same period.
Also according to MAPI, spending on capital goods and investment in equipment and machinery, which has languished for several years now, will have an impact on output and productivity levels, which have also stagnated.
The continued strength of the dollar against the world's major currencies, which is expected to decline over the next decade and relatively high interest rates or at least higher than the quantitative easing of a few years ago,
will continue to play havoc in the 2018-2020 period for U.S. manufacturing companies seeking to maintain competitive prices in an increasingly global market.
In the first nine months of 2016, total U.S. imports related to Machines Italia's 15 industries decreased by 0.56 percent to €35.5 billion.
As far as U.S. imports of the main commodity categories of capital goods are concerned, there was a decrease in metalworking machinery (-5.5 percent), agricultural machinery (-47.5 percent), machinery of the printing and papermaking industry (-2.6 percent), and metallurgy/casting machinery (-5.4 percent).
On the other hand, tanning industry machinery (23.2 percent), glass processing machinery (19.7 percent), plastic and rubber processing machinery (12.9 percent), hydraulic, pneumatic and transmission components (10.2 percent), food industry machinery (6,5 percent), textile machinery (6.0 percent), wood processing machinery (2.8 percent), packaging machinery (2.7 percent), marble processing machinery (2.1 percent), ceramics machinery (1.3 percent), and earth moving machinery (1.0 percent).
Nearly 60 percent of U.S. imports of capital goods are hydraulic, pneumatic and transmission components (35.8 percent), earthmoving and construction machinery (14 percent) and metalworking machinery (8 percent).
In the first nine months of 2017, U.S. imports of made-in-Italy instrumental mechanics decreased by 1.4 percent compared to the same period in 2016 - However, the decline is less than that reported by other European countries such as Germany (-3.7 percent), the United Kingdom (-12.6 percent) and France (-4.4 percent). Italy reconfirms itself as the sixth largest U.S. supplier of machinery and capital technologies - 15 Machines Italy project sectors - with € 2.2 billion exported in the first 9 months of 2017, with a market share of more than 6 percent.
Preceding Italy in the following order are Japan, Germany, China, Canada and Mexico, with South Korea, the United Kingdom, France and Taiwan following.
An increase was found for earthmoving and construction machinery (32 percent), marble processing machinery (25.8 percent), glass processing machinery (24.3 percent), tanning industry machinery (23.2 percent), hydraulics, pneumatics and transmission organs (19.9 percent), plastics and rubber processing machinery (17.3 percent), metallurgy industry machinery (9.5 percent) and food industry machinery (5.7 percent).
Only six of Machines Italia's 15 sectors declined, namely agricultural machinery (-29.9 percent), metalworking machine tools (-24.9 percent), machinery in the printing and papermaking industry (-25.2 percent), woodworking machinery (-6.8 percent), ceramics machinery (-5.8 percent), textile machinery (-2 percent) and packaging machinery (-0.6 percent).
Positive signals coming from Japan and the Eurozone, important drivers of the global economy, and the depreciation of the U.S. currency, should support, in the medium to long term, a rise, significant, in the manufacturing output of the North American country, at least for the next decade mitigating the negative growth factors.
The disastrous impact on oil production of Hurricane Harvey, which hit Texas and other Gulf states, could create problems for the U.S. manufacturing industry, during 2018, driving up the cost of crude oil.
Growing political-military tensions between Washington and North Korea pose a risk factor not only for the U.S. economy but also for the economies of neighboring Asian countries.
Last September, the Manufacturers' Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI) released its forecast for U.S. manufacturing output, which indicated subdued GDP growth of 1.7 percent over the three-year period 2018-2020, in contrast to manufacturing output growth of 2.2 percent over the same period.
Also according to MAPI, spending on capital goods and investment in equipment and machinery, which has languished for several years now, will have an impact on output and productivity levels, which have also stagnated.
The continued strength of the dollar against the world's major currencies, which is expected to decline over the next decade and relatively high interest rates or at least higher than the quantitative easing of a few years ago,
will continue to play havoc in the 2018-2020 period for U.S. manufacturing companies seeking to maintain competitive prices in an increasingly global market.
In the first nine months of 2016, total U.S. imports related to Machines Italia's 15 industries decreased by 0.56 percent to €35.5 billion.
As far as U.S. imports of the main commodity categories of capital goods are concerned, there was a decrease in metalworking machinery (-5.5 percent), agricultural machinery (-47.5 percent), machinery of the printing and papermaking industry (-2.6 percent), and metallurgy/casting machinery (-5.4 percent).
On the other hand, tanning industry machinery (23.2 percent), glass processing machinery (19.7 percent), plastic and rubber processing machinery (12.9 percent), hydraulic, pneumatic and transmission components (10.2 percent), food industry machinery (6,5 percent), textile machinery (6.0 percent), wood processing machinery (2.8 percent), packaging machinery (2.7 percent), marble processing machinery (2.1 percent), ceramics machinery (1.3 percent), and earth moving machinery (1.0 percent).
Nearly 60 percent of U.S. imports of capital goods are hydraulic, pneumatic and transmission components (35.8 percent), earthmoving and construction machinery (14 percent) and metalworking machinery (8 percent).
In the first nine months of 2017, U.S. imports of made-in-Italy instrumental mechanics decreased by 1.4 percent compared to the same period in 2016 - However, the decline is less than that reported by other European countries such as Germany (-3.7 percent), the United Kingdom (-12.6 percent) and France (-4.4 percent). Italy reconfirms itself as the sixth largest U.S. supplier of machinery and capital technologies - 15 Machines Italy project sectors - with € 2.2 billion exported in the first 9 months of 2017, with a market share of more than 6 percent.
Preceding Italy in the following order are Japan, Germany, China, Canada and Mexico, with South Korea, the United Kingdom, France and Taiwan following.
An increase was found for earthmoving and construction machinery (32 percent), marble processing machinery (25.8 percent), glass processing machinery (24.3 percent), tanning industry machinery (23.2 percent), hydraulics, pneumatics and transmission organs (19.9 percent), plastics and rubber processing machinery (17.3 percent), metallurgy industry machinery (9.5 percent) and food industry machinery (5.7 percent).
Only six of Machines Italia's 15 sectors declined, namely agricultural machinery (-29.9 percent), metalworking machine tools (-24.9 percent), machinery in the printing and papermaking industry (-25.2 percent), woodworking machinery (-6.8 percent), ceramics machinery (-5.8 percent), textile machinery (-2 percent) and packaging machinery (-0.6 percent).