By LOUIS UCHITELLE, New York Times --The majestic steel beams of a soaring office tower beginning to rise from the ruins of the World Trade Center are a tribute to American resilience, but also a marker in the decline of yet another industry.Not an inch of imported glass went into the two lost towers, built 40 years ago. The lower floors of the new one will soon be sheathed in Chinese glass.
The decline of glassmaking in America started gradually in the 1990s and accelerated during the Great Recession. What's more, the big companies, like Corning and Guardian Industries, say that even as the economy improves, they are unlikely to bring domestic employment and production back to prerecession levels. Imports, for one thing, inhibit sales. And bigger profits lie abroad, so they are channeling investment and expansion to overseas factories.
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U.S. Glassmakers: Half Empty Or Half Full?
Date: 19 January 2010
Source: Startribune.com
U.S. glassmakers are expanding abroad to offset growing losses to countries such as China, which is supplying the glass that will sheath the lower floors of the skyscraper rising from the ruins of New York's World Trade Center.