Increasingly, global manufacturers see China, India and the rest of Asia as a market as much as a source of cheap labor.
It's become standard fare in both the business and mainstream press: plant closings in the United States; plant openings in China, India and Asia in general. The issue has been an especially emotional one in the appliance industry. GE, Whirlpool, Maytag, these are names Americans grew up with. There is a very real fear that white goods will go the way of the electronics industry.