Chinese Imports Worrying John Kasich's Invacare: Fighting Shanghai Knockoffs To Save U.S. Jobs In Florida

  

Invacare complaint to save Florida jobs

  CINCINNATI (TDB) -- Documents filed with the International Trade Commission in DC suggest John Kasich backs the fight to save an Invacare factory in Florida threatened by Chinese knockoffs.  The documents were prepared by Invacare's lawyers last month.  Ohio's  Democratic Gov. Ted Strickland has been hammering GOP challenger Kasich for serving on the board of directors of Invacare, a Cleveland-area company that moved more than 200 Ohio manufacturing jobs to China.  The loss of those jobs -- and Kasich's role in sending them overseas -- has been a hot issue in a state where globalization and imports have hit the factory economy hard.  The Daily Bellwether learned that Invacare is singing the unfair trade blues, claiming it's being victimized by patent-infringing Chinese imports.  Kasich has been a proponent of foreign trade agreements.  But trade deals can haunt U.S. companies, and Invacare is now fighting [see accompanying document] a legal battle to save 240 jobs at its factory in Sanford, Fla.  A Chinese government owned manufacturer is among the foes.  Inquiring minds might wonder:  Has Kasich fought harder to save jobs in Florida than Ohio?

In early August, Invacare filed a formal complaint with the International Trade Commission against Shanghai Shunglong Physical Therapy Equipment Co., Ltd.  Invacare contends the Chinese are making knockoffs of adjustable height beds used for home health care.  It says the beds are being illegally imported and sold in the U.S.   Here is some language from Invacare's complaint against the Chinese:

"Invacare has made significant investment in plant, tools and equipment devoted to developing, manufacturing and testing the Invacare beds.  Invacare manufactures the Invacare beds at a manufacturing plant that it owns in Sanford, Florida ('Florida Plant') and has been doing so ever since the Invacare Beds were first produced in 2003.  Invacare purchased the Florida Plant in 1994, most of which is designated for manufacturing.  The Florida plant is divided into two different spaces, one dedicated to beds, and the other dedicated to respiratory products.  The Invacare Beds make up a large portion of the beds manufactured in the Florida Plant."

The complaint also states:  "Shunglong manufactures abroad and, directly and through authorized agents, sells for importation and/or imports the Accused Products into the United States.  Invacares's employees have purchased the Accused Products in the United States after importation."

Invacare says the Chinese manufacturer sells to a New York based importer, who then offers the products to dealers and medical providers across the nation.  It said a knockoff bed from China was purchased in Cincinnati at the Queen City Medical Mart on Reading Road.

Earlier this month, the ITC voted to investigate Invacare's complaint.  The full text of the 42-page Invacare unfair trade complaint is available here (pdf). An International Trade Commission press release announcing it would investigate the Chinese beds is available here.

John Kasich's Ohio Debate Gaffe: 'We Haven't Lost Jobs to China.'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- There really is no doubt about it. Ohio jobs have moved overseas -- thousands to China. By one count, some 66,100 Ohio jobs had been shifted to China by 2007. And Republican John Kasich was dead wrong to claim in a gubernatorial debate against Ted Strickland last night that the jobs haven't disappeared. Kasich said, "We haven't lost jobs to China."

Workers who made Eljer plumbing fixtures in Salem, Ohio would be surprised to learn their manufacturing jobs didn't go to China.
People who made Etch A Sketch, the toy that draws on a screen using two knobs, and let's you erase it and start all over again, saw their life's work leave its small town Ohio home after 40 years. CBS News reported: "To save labor and production costs, Ohio Art Company is closing its Bryan, Ohio plant and moving production to China. The company announced its decision last month. Thirty workers are affected by the move - a lot for a town of 9,000 people. The Ohio employees made their last Etch A Sketches on Friday, three days before Christmas." The new plant that replaced the operation in Bryan, Ohio (in NW Ohio) is in Shenzen, China. By the way, Bryan is in Williams County, which nearly has the state's worst unemployment rate. Almost 14% of the county's workers are jobless.

And here's Malachi Mixon, chairman of Invacare Corp., near Cleveland. Kasich is on Invacare's board of directors. The company moved Ohio jobs to China, a fact that Mixon confirmed in a Jan. 31, 2008 inveterview with The Plain Dealer:

"Q: How difficult was the decision to move production to China?Invacare CEO Mixon: 'It wasn't difficult because it's about survival. [and] We realized we simply couldn't compete from America. You can take virtually any product made in Cleveland, make it in China, ship it back here and pay the freight for probably about 25 percent lower cost.' Invacare CEO Mixon said his Ohio labor costs were about $14 an hour; "And China, 50 cents."

UPDATE 3:09 PM -- Data published earlier this year by Policy Matters Ohio, a Cleveland think tank that is largely supported by labor, shows 10 companies in Ohio shifted production to China between May 2009 and May 2010. All told, there were 1,294 Ohio jobs lost. Kasich said there were none. Policy Matters Ohio gathered its data by analyzing records compiled by the U.S. Labor Department under the Trade Adjustment Act. Here's some of what the think tank said in its July report:

". . . by far, the largest number of Ohio jobs that have been shifted abroad and certified under the trade assistance program have been going to Mexico [4,668 jobs]. Each of the three largest certifications involving production shifts -- Ford Motor Co.'s Cleveland cast plant, Wal-Mart's eyeglass plant in Lockbourne and Avon's cosmetics plant in Springale (near Cincinnati) -- saw production go to Mexico. The vast bulk of the jobs shifted to Mexico, as with China, are manufacturing jobs."

GOP's John Kasich: He Owns 45,000 Shares ($1.2 Million) Of Corp. Praising Ohio's Tax Climate 'As Better Than Ever'

CINCINNATI (TDB) -- John Kasich, the Republican candidate for governor of Ohio, serves on Invacare Corporation's board of directors and owns 45,000 shares of stock in the Elyria-based medical products manufacturer. (See the April 2009 proxy statement above.) Kasich's company -- which has made him rich -- loves the state. And while Kasich is campaigning on a theme that Ohio's tax climate is miserable for business growth and entrepreneurs, Invacare is taking part in a national advertising campaign that says "Ohio's business climate is better than ever." While Kasich claims Gov. Ted Strickland's administration has been chasing jobs out of the state, Kasich's company sees Oho as "an ideal location." Indeed Invacare's (IVC:NYSE) version of Ohio is poles apart from Kasich:

"From its early beginnings in 1885, Invacare has called Oho home. Here, they've found an ideal location, a skilled workforce, an excellent transportation infrastructure and government leaders will to work as partners with industry . . . And now Ohio business climate is better than ever. Major tax reforms have shifted policy from taxing capital investment , profits and wealth creation to taxing gross receipts. The result is greater incentives to invest in innovation and productivity and more support for entrepreneurial activity."

All that is from an advertisement that goes on to quote A. Malachai Mixon III, Invacare's Chairman and CEO, as saying Ohio has been a great location for his company: "From our headquarters in Ohio, Invacare has become a world leader in home medical products. The state's new tax laws will help us continue to grow."

Kasich has been on Invacare's board of directors since 2001. The latest proxy statement shows him with 45,018 shares. Just after noon today, those shares were worth $26.46 each -- or $1,1919,762. Kasich seems to have done well financially in a state whose tax and business climate he is ripping on the campaign trail. His Invacare holdings have made him wealthy. You can find the a link to the Invacare ad here and a brochure(pdf) that lists Invacare among several corporations that are effusive about their Ohio business locations.