Aldonas discusses President Bush's manufacturing agenda at AFS Foundry Executive Conference in October.

In October, more than 100 foundrymen gathered in Destin, Florida for the AFS Foundry Executive Conference. The highlight of the conference was the presentation by Grant Aldonas, Undersecretary for International Trade Administration, U,S. Dept. of Commerce, who spoke on the Bush Administration's manufacturing agenda.

Aldonas agreed with the audience that the U.S. manufacturing industry is fighting a tough battle today against foreign competition on an unlevel playing field. "The U.S. manufacturing sector is flying on one engine in the world economy," said Aldonas. However, he also stated that any help the U.S. government can provide to alleviate the pressure placed by global competitors must first begin at home. "In order to make any agreements, such us trade agreements to reduce the influx of low-cost imports, stick with our global trading partners, we first must clean up our own backyard on issues such us health care, insurance, etc.," said Aldonas.

Aldonas did say that the Bush Administration is in the final stages of developing its report on the U.S. manufacturing industry, which should be issued in November. He stated that the Administration is keenly aware of how low-cost, offshore nations, such as China, are hurting U.S. industries daily.

"China joined the World Trade Organization and the people had patience with them because they are adopting market principles into a communist system," said Aldonas. "The problem is that the patience are drying up and the new label is dissappearing."

He continued, "China knows the world market has to stay open to it for it to have any chance to pull at least a portion of its 900 million people in poverty out of it."

According to Aldonas, the current tie between the U.S. dollar and China's currency is one issue that will be examined during the current 4-month progressive stages of dialogue the Bush Administration is having with Chinese government officials.

Another highlight of the conference was a panel presentation titled," Importing Castings: What Casting Buyers Are Looking for," in which Dennis Kross, General Motors, Tom Akers, International Truck & Engine Corp., and Gary Bevilacqua, Caterpillar, Inc., spoke on their firm's approach to sourcing castings offshore.

According to Akers, "We want suppliers to bring the best technology to us. We want suppliers to have global capabilities. We need financially strong suppliers that can reinvest to help us."

AFS also presented two management awards at the conference. Receiving the 2003 William J. Grede Award was Robert W. Smillie, vice president of Canadian operations, Nemak Corp., Monterrey, Mexico. Receiving the 2003 Keating Founders' Freedom Award was G. Thomas Surtees, vice president human resources, Citation Corp., Birmingham, Alabama.