High-tech group promotes necessity of outsourcing

High-tech group promotes necessity of outsourcing    The American Electronics Association said in a report last week that the recent uproar about outsourcing U.S. jobs to other countries is wrongly placed and warned against protectionist and other responses that would do more to hurt the competitiveness of U.S. companies.
   The electronics industry trade association said job loss during the last three years is less from offshore outsourcing than from a weak international and domestic economy combined with strong productivity improvements. The number of people hurt by this global trend is exaggerated, especially since other parts of the world are seeing jobs shifts to other countries, and foreign companies continue to invest in the United States and create jobs there as well.
   The AeA recommended that Congress stand pat on calls for protectionist legislation, which the group said would expose the high-tech industry to retaliation from other countries. The association pointed out that similar political pressure mounted in the 1980s to restrict imports and adopt industrial policies from Japan when that nation appeared like it was going to dominate the world economy but that the U.S. economy has since adjusted better than Japan's without any intervention.