Well, I never even thought they'd bother with such a "smallish" market but with so many builders gone, maybe they see a "market".
I, too, wish our manufacturing base was not disappearing.
There was an article in an American Society of Mechanical Engineers publication in 1968 written by a professor at FSU who was warning us that the "electromechanical" industry in the US was doomed...all the plants that made motor driven handtools, sewing machines, relays, ... ultimately pumps, compressors, etc. No one listened when it was possible to have done something. Now it is too late... the cost to reenter a market once it has been destroyed is monumental. When my old circular saw bit the dust I went shopping for a new one... I looked and looked, there are none made here anymore, zero, zilch, nada. It's either Japan or China and the Makitas are pretty well made but the stuff from China is about 20% of the cost. It's so cheap, in fact, that you don't worry about getting anything fixed anymore, just throw it away and get another one.
Newsweek mentioned that China has had the world's leading economy for 19 of the past 20 centuries and simply want to regain lost ground. A fundamental part of that objective is based on manufacturing and market share, even if obtained at a loss for a while... the Wal-Mart model. Maybe, we will soon see the real price of products from China when there are no other sources...I'd love to buy a quality circular saw made in Ohio but I can't, as far as I know and now, most of us, shop Home Depot, Lowes, Wal-Mart, CostCo, etc who are marketing and distribution companies for China, Inc.
Another fundamental element is to be the world's banker... loan us money by the trillions so we can buy their products and become so deep in debt that we have no leverage, no cash, no options.
There are many flavors of cocaine, I guess... some legal and some illegal. If they buy the movie business, the airliner businesses and the heavy equipment businesses... what's left? McDonalds, lawyers, CPAs, hospitals, real estate and agriculture. I don't know about agriculture. If they wanted to buy real estate, there's plenty of that for sale and the banks would be glad to be rid of it
So I guess, if China starts selling MH's in the US, it's not really surprising... only that they'd pick that instead of trucks or cars or something with high volume. Unless, of course, there are incredible margins and profits to be made?
Interesting!