美国国家公共电台 NPR Why The American Shoe Disappeared And Why It's So Hard To Bring It Back

 

NOEL KING, HOST:

If President Trump¹ follows through on his threat to impose more tariffs² on imports from China, one industry that has a lot to lose is U.S. footwear companies. That's because most of the shoes sold here are made in China. Even more of those shoes have parts from China. NPR's Alina Selyukh has been wondering could America ever make its own shoes again?

ALINA SELYUKH, BYLINE³: Douglas Clark has been asking this question for decades. In the '80s, he worked for Nike as factories closed all around him in the Northeast.

DOUGLAS CLARK: I'll tell you, one of the darkest parts of being at Nike was when I watched domestic manufacturing evaporate and everything go to Asia.

SELYUKH: Where labor⁴ was much cheaper. What followed was a mass exodus⁵. If you chart jobs in footwear manufacturing in the U.S., the graph has the curve of a stiletto, a steep slope through the '90s before it levels out around fewer than 13,000 jobs in the past decade.

CLARK: As a true Yankee, (laughter), and my father was the colonial historian, you know, it was heartbreaking.

SELYUKH: Clark would go on to a long career in footwear - at Converse⁶, Reebok, Timberland then his own line of shoes at New England Footwear - and eight years devoted⁷ to one mission.

CLARK: Not only can we create a model for how footwear can be made back in the U.S. in a profitable way, but that that model could transfer to all the other lost industries that have left the U.S.

SELYUKH: This was a tall order. At a time when the president speaks of rebuilding American manufacturing, footwear is a telling example of how hard it is to turn back time. These days, 99% of shoes sold in the U.S. are imported from countries like China, Vietnam, Indonesia. And that's the number that Clark was going up against when he went after the main reason why shoemakers left in the first place - labor costs. Here's Mike Jeppesen, head of global operations at Wolverine Worldwide, which owns brands like Merrill, Sperry and Keds.

MIKE JEPPESEN: Our actual cost price in making the shoes is somewhere around $16 an hour. When we are sourcing from China today, that price is about $3 an hour.

SELYUKH: More than five times more, a cost that ends up quadrupling after wholesale⁸ and retail⁹ markups.

JEPPESEN: So that's a $50 price difference between a pair of shoes made in the U.S. and a pair of shoes made in China. Simple as that.

SELYUKH: That's why the mass market companies, especially athletic¹⁰ shoes and women's fashion shoes, have focused their U.S. operations more on design and marketing¹¹, leaving all the cutting and gluing and stitching to manufacturers overseas. So Clark focused on automating¹² and simplifying this labor-intensive work.

CLARK: Instead of a shoe being made of 55 parts, we had a shoe that was made of 10, or 11 or 12 parts.

SELYUKH: To be clear, shoe-making never entirely¹³ left America. But it's down to some 200 factories. The majority of them employ fewer than 10 people. For many, the U.S. military is the main customer, which has to buy made-in-the-U.S.A. But outside of that, large shoe companies will say there's little commercial reason for them to manufacture here. Smaller ones say they stay because they found a unique niche¹⁴, or want to carry on the tradition or take a stand against the environmental impact of trans-Pacific shipping¹⁵. To make it work, these firms rely on their shoppers choosing to pay more for bespoke¹⁶ quality and the made-in-America brand.

NANCY RICHARDSON: We know that we can't make a $19 shoe to be sold at Target or Walmart. That's just not going to be possible for us.

SELYUKH: Nancy Richardson is CEO of SAS.

(SOUNDBITE OF FACTORY MACHINERY¹⁸ NOISE)

SELYUKH: It's a mid-sized company that's been making shoes in San Antonio since the '70s, still starting the traditional way, carving¹⁹ the shape of a foot into wooden block called the last.

(SOUNDBITE OF HAMMERING ON WOOD)

SELYUKH: SAS shoes cost around $150 to $200. And the biggest challenge for SAS is finding workers.

RICHARDSON: At one time in the U.S., you might have put an ad and gotten 200 resumes. Today, you might get a handful of people.

SELYUKH: U.S. factories rarely get applicants²⁰ under 40. Arthritis²¹ is a common struggle. As shoe-making jobs disappeared, so did the support system. Suppliers of things like metal parts or colorful leather followed the industry overseas. Doug Clark, on his mission to return mainstream²² manufacturing to America, knew all this. But he also knew that history was already starting to repeat itself in China, too. Wages have been going up. Footwear companies have been moving, again chasing lower costs. This could be the opportunity for America's comeback, Clark thought. But for it to work, you need robots. A few years back, he got a contract with a big brand and a grant to make shoe manufacturing less manual starting with the top parts.

CLARK: The first thing we did was we basically developed ways to make uppers that didn't involve a lot of labor.

SELYUKH: Footwear manufacturing has long included machines cutting or gluing soles. But higher-level innovation? Ironically, factory owners I spoke¹⁷ with said that's happening where the industry is, overseas. Major brands like Nike and Adidas have been developing new technologies, including in the U.S., but they still rely heavily on factory workers abroad. Because unlike humans, robots aren't nimble. They can't notice imperfections or quickly switch to a new fashion style.

CLARK: Robots are not forgiving.

SELYUKH: For Clark, the story had a frustrating²³ end. Developing automation got very expensive and slower than expected. He ran out of money and sold his factory to a technology company which knew a lot about robots. The factory is now closed. Clark hoped his legacy²⁴ would be reviving American shoe manufacturing. Instead, he's now in real estate. Alina Selyukh, NPR News.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 tariffs   

关税制度； 关税( tariff的名词复数 )； 关税表； （旅馆或饭店等的）收费表； 量刑标准

参考例句：

• British industry was sheltered from foreign competition by protective tariffs. 保护性关税使英国工业免受国际竞争影响。
• The new tariffs have put a stranglehold on trade. 新的关税制对开展贸易极为不利。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

6 converse   

vi.谈话，谈天，闲聊；adv.相反的，相反

参考例句：

• He can converse in three languages.他可以用3种语言谈话。
• I wanted to appear friendly and approachable but I think I gave the converse impression.我想显得友好、平易近人些,却发觉给人的印象恰恰相反。

7 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

8 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

9 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

10 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

11 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

12 automating   

（使）自动化( automate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Have you ever thought about automating any part of your business? 你有没有想过把你公司的某个部门自动化？
• We are in process of automating the production department. 我们正在对生产部门实行自动化。

13 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

14 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

15 shipping   

n.船运（发货，运输，乘船）

参考例句：

• We struck a bargain with an American shipping firm.我们和一家美国船运公司谈成了一笔生意。
• There's a shipping charge of ￡5 added to the price.价格之外另加五英镑运输费。

16 bespoke   

adj.（产品）订做的；专做订货的v.预定( bespeak的过去式 )；订（货）；证明；预先请求

参考例句：

• His style of dressing bespoke great self-confidence. 他的衣着风格显得十分自信。
• The haberdasher presented a cap, saying,"Here is the cap your worship bespoke." 帽匠拿出一顶帽子来说：“这就是老爷您定做的那顶。” 来自辞典例句

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

19 carving   

n.雕刻品，雕花

参考例句：

• All the furniture in the room had much carving.房间里所有的家具上都有许多雕刻。
• He acquired the craft of wood carving in his native town.他在老家学会了木雕手艺。

20 applicants   

申请人，求职人( applicant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were over 500 applicants for the job. 有500多人申请这份工作。
• He was impressed by the high calibre of applicants for the job. 求职人员出色的能力给他留下了深刻印象。

21 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

22 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

23 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

24 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。