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investment in US operations over the next 5 years. Some large Chinese companies are also moving some of their manufacturing plants to the US. Chinese companies re- portedly invested a record $20 billion to $30 billion in the US in 2016. For ex- ample, Fuyao Glass in China has in- vested more than $1 billion in its US manufacturing operations, including a factory in Moraine, Ohio. The com- pany states that tax burdens in China are higher than in the US, and it can make more money by manufacturing the glass in the US rather than by ex- porting from China. Foxconn, one of Apple's biggest suppli- ers, has also announced that it may in- vest more than $7 billion in a new fac- tory in the US that could create 30,000 to 50,000 jobs. More manufacturers also are looking at nearsourcing and moving from suppli- ers based in Asia to those based in the US or Mexico. A survey by LMA Consult- ing Group found that 70 percent of US manufacturing executives expect near- sourcing to increase in the next 5 years. Atomic study creates anticorrosion material DALIAN, China—A research group in China recently made a discovery that may help in the development of new anticorrosion coatings. In the study, "Enhanced oxidation resistance of ac- tive nanostructures via dynamic size ef- fect," first published in Nature Commu- nications, researchers found that oxide nanostructures with a diameter smaller than 3 nanometers could exhibit better oxidation resistance over larger nanos- tructures. The research team was led by professor BAO Xinhe from Dalian In- stitute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. Previously, there was a limited under- standing of the underlying mechanism of oxidation in nanostructures with di- ameters smaller than 5 nanometers be- cause they have rarely been studied. However, by investigating the oxida- tion mechanism at the atomic level, the research team has proposed that a "dy- namic size effect" determines the stabil- ity of supported nanoparticles. The re- search not only helps in understanding the dynamic remodeling mechanism of nanocatalysts in oxygen, but also pro- vides a new interface control for the de- velopment of an anticorrosion and an- tioxidation nanoprotective coating. Several nanocrystalline materials have also been reported to exhibit improved oxidation resistance with respect to bulk materials and have been applied as anti- corrosion coatings. Shot blaster designed for portability OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla.—Blastrac NA has introduced the 18DM Shot Blaster, a new portable, lightweight shotblasting system designed for a range of applications including small indus- trial floors. The shot blaster can prepare, strip, clean, and profile in one step, and can be used as a complementary unit on larger jobs. The unit can be used to prepare concrete floors prior to wood floor installations or for overlays, paint, or coatings. It creates a profile that promotes coating adhe- sion, and can be connected to a dust col- lector to keep jobs virtually dust free. BASF names new president LUDWIGSHAFEN, Germany—A company veteran will be taking the helm as president of the Coatings division of chemical company BASF. The com- pany has announced that Dirk Bremm will take over the position. Bremm, who has spent nearly two decades with BASF, was appointed on April 1. The BASF Coatings division develops, pro- duces, and markets decorative paints, in- dustrial coatings, sustainable automo- tive OEM, and refinish coatings. Giffin USA adds new production facility AUBURN HILLS, Mich.—Giffin USA has expanded its physical foot- print with a new production facility at its expansive manufacturing campus that includes two facilities, both lo- cated in Auburn Hills, Mich. Each fa- cility includes 80,000 square feet of open floor space capable of manufac- turing every metal component re- quired for a complete finishing system. Located just 8 miles from each other, these facilities operate as one, with seamless communication between all departments. Giffin provides turnkey integrated finishing process solutions, including building construction and conveying systems for new and exist- ing manufacturing facilities. Group closely examines job offshoring and reshoring CLEVELAND, Ohio—According to a recent blog post from the Reshoring Initiative, 3 to 5 million manufacturing jobs have been lost to trade/offshoring since 1979. Similarly, 3 to 5 million can be brought back by reshoring. These conclusions are consistently found by serious researchers on the sub- ject. Inaccurate calculations suggesting the numbers are much smaller have been widely circulated and need to be clearly and soundly refuted. Understat- ing the job losses and potential for reshoring undermines the priority that needs to be placed on making US man- ufacturing competitive. The clear, direct means of analysis is via the change in the trade balance. The US trade balance went negative in 1979 and has been negative every year since. The deficit in goods, excluding petro- leum, currently averages about $500 billion per year. Import prices are, on average, about 20 percent lower than domestic prices. Thus, the trade deficit, measured at US price levels, is about $600 billion. The 2016 average output per US man- ufacturing employee was $179,000. Therefore, the number of manufactur- ing jobs lost, measured at the current level of US productivity, is 3.35 million. Eliminating the trade deficit by substi- tuting domestic production for imports (reshoring) or exporting more will bring back 3.35 million jobs at current levels of productivity. If productivity rises, the number brought back will be propor- tionately less. Productivity is rising slowly, however, at about 2 percent per year. The trade surplus in services re- duces the overall trade deficit. Basing the job loss solely on the 2016 manufac- tured goods trade deficit, excluding pe- troleum, of $683 billion, the loss rises to 4.6 million manufacturing jobs. 6 POWDER COATING, August 2017