In the United States, many products - such as cameras, computers and mobile phones - carry the label “Made in China.”
美国许多产品像相机、电脑、手机，都贴有“中国制造”的标签。
But the reverse is happening in the southeastern state of Georgia, where a small company is producing a quintessential Chinese product - chopsticks - for shipment to China and other countries.
但是美国东南部乔治亚州一家小公司正在扭转这个形势，这家公司生产筷子，并把筷子出口到中国。
Made in the USA
“Right now we are making about two million pairs of chopsticks per day but we are increasing," says Jae Lee, president of Georgia Chopsticks. "End of this month, we’ll have seven machines coming in, so it’ll increase to like four million per day. End of this year, we’ll produce 10 million per day.”
韩裔美国人李载是乔治亚筷子公司的主席。李载说：“我们现在每天生产两百万双筷子，但数量还在增加。我们这个月底将新增七台机器，所以会增产到每天四百万双。今年底之前，我们将每天生产一千万双筷子。”
Lee, a Korean-American, says the global market for chopsticks is huge because about one-third of the world’s population uses them. Japan alone goes through about 23 billion pairs of the disposable utensils each year.
他说，全球筷子市场很大，世界上大约三分之一人口都用筷子。日本每年用掉230亿双方便筷。
Most chopsticks are made in China, where several hundred manufacturers turn out 63 billion pairs annually. But they are running short of wood.
大部分筷子在中国制造，几百家制造商每年生产630亿双筷子。但是他们快用完木材了。
Natural resources
Wood is something the U.S. town of Americus - where Georgia Chopsticks is located - has plenty of.
大卫.加里加说，阿梅里克斯有很多树木。加里加是当地经济发展委员会领导人。
“Rural Georgia and the cities of rural Georgia, they’re blessed with tons of natural resources," says David Garriga, who heads the local economic development council. "The Pacific Rim, especially areas of China and Japan, they’ve run out of wood, but we have an abundance of it.”
加里加说：“乔治亚州享有丰富的天然资源。环太平洋地区，尤其中国和日本，他们快把木材用光了，但我们有很多。”
In central Georgia, sweet gum and poplars grow like weeds, and, it turns out, these trees make perfect chopsticks. Their wood is pliable, straight and has a nice color.
在乔治亚州中部，香枫和白杨像野草一样的茂密，而这些树非常适合作成筷子。他们的木材容易弯曲、很笔直，又有漂亮的颜色。
That makes Georgia chopsticks especially attractive to consumers since, unlike Asian chopsticks, they do not need to be artificially lightened with chemicals and bleach.
这使得乔治亚州的筷子对消费者特别具有吸引力，因为不像亚洲的筷子，乔治亚州的筷子不需要用化学物质和漂白剂人工上色。
Ramping up production
Americus has something else in abundance, besides wood: people.
阿梅里克斯盛产树木，还有大量人力。
Once a manufacturing center, the city lost jobs in the 1970s when companies relocated overseas. Now, Georgia Chopsticks is hiring.
这里曾经是制造业中心，但在1970年代公司纷纷移往海外后，阿梅里克斯失去了许多工作机会。现在李载在招人。
“When I checked, Americus, they have like a 12 percent unemployment rate," says Lee. "In China, everybody believes that labor cost is cheap, but I believe that our quality is much better in the U.S.”
李载说：“我发现阿梅里克斯的失业率是12%。大家都相信中国的劳动成本很便宜，但我相信美国这里的品质好得多。”
When Georgia Chopsticks opened at the end of last year, it received 450 job applications in just two weeks. Today, 57 people are employed at the factory and Lee hopes to ramp up production, hiring an additional 100 employees by the end of the year.
乔治亚筷子公司在去年年底开张时，短短两星期就收到450份求职申请。今天，有57人在工厂工作，李载希望提高产量，并在年底前再招聘100人。
Susan White, who just started working at the company, thinks it’s great to be turning the tables and making something that is sold in China.
苏珊.怀特才开始在乔治亚筷子公司工作。她觉得，扭转形势、生产某种在中国贩卖的东西很棒。
“Everywhere you see in America ‘Made in China,’" she says, "and you wonder if, in China, they ever see ‘Made from America.’”
怀特说：“我首先想的是其他人怎么想，你在美国其他地方看到中国制的东西，然后你会想在中国他们有没有看过美国制的东西。”
Level playing field
The American connection to the chopstick trade is something local economic development council head Garriga finds ironic.
经济发展主任加里加发现，美国和筷子扯上关系很讽刺。
“Suddenly here’s a huge nation, fastest growing in the world, that finances part of our national debt, and here we are making their basic products and shipping it to them, like they’ve done for us for years. It’s just kind of a reverse.”
他说：“突然之间有个世界上成长最快的大国、我们国家欠他们钱，我们制造他们的基本用品、运去给他们，就像他们多年来为我们做的。这颠倒过来了。”
Every chopstick made here goes overseas, where they are sold to supermarket chains in China, Korea and Japan. Right now, Georgia Chopsticks can’t keep up with demand.
这里生产的筷子被运到海外，在中国、韩国和日本的连锁超市里贩卖。现在，乔治亚筷子公司的产品供不应求。
It costs less than a penny to make a pair of chopsticks, but Lee isn’t making any money yet. To turn a profit, he needs to produce more than four million chopsticks a day, which he is on track to do in the next month or two.
一双筷子的制造成本不到一美分，但李载还没赚到钱。为了获取利润，他需要一天生产四百万双筷子，这就是他接下来这一两个月要作的。
The success of companies like Georgia Chopsticks demonstrates how the new global economy levels the playing field, according to Garriga.
加里加说，像乔治亚筷子公司这样的成功案例显示在新的全球经济里人人都有机会。
“Prices and markets have evened out so much that America can produce these basic things and do well in the market.”
加里加说：“价格和市场大到美国能生产这些基本东西，然后在市场中应付自如。”
Since Georgia Chopsticks started production, Garriga has been contacted by Asian businesses interested in opening other kinds of manufacturing facilities in Americus.
自从乔治亚筷子公司投产后，有亚洲企业联络加里加，表明有兴趣在阿梅里克斯设立其他制造场地。
So, chopsticks may be the first in a long line of products produced for Asia, made in Americus and carrying the "Made in the USA" label.
所以，也许筷子只是美国阿梅里克斯制造、专供亚洲的一长串产品的第一个。 |