The Supply Chain Illusion: Why 'Reshoring' Is Not Happening
May 5, 2026 · Frisian News
Western governments promised to bring manufacturing home after the pandemic, but companies continue to source from low-cost countries. The numbers show reshoring remains a political fantasy.
A factory in northern Germany shrank its workforce by 40 percent last month after shifting orders back to Vietnam. The plant manager cited lower wages and no environmental rules as the reason. This quiet reversal tells the real story that politicians refuse to admit: reshoring was never the plan, and it never will be.
Governments across Europe and North America spent three years promoting reshoring as the answer to fragile supply chains. Ministers gave speeches about independence and strength. Companies nodded along in public statements. But when contract time came, manufacturers moved production to cheaper countries faster than before. Labor costs in Western nations remain three to five times higher than in Southeast Asia, and no amount of subsidies can close that gap.
The numbers prove this. Official reshoring figures from Brussels and Washington count only projects worth mentioning to voters. They ignore the far larger volume of new manufacturing that never left Asia in the first place. Electronics, textiles, and basic chemicals all expanded output in China and India while European factories downsized. The statistics hide this by measuring only the factories that came home, not the ones that never left.
Why do governments push this fiction? Reshoring sounds good during elections. It promises jobs and dignity without asking citizens to pay more for goods or accept lower consumption. It lets leaders blame "globalism" while avoiding the real choice: either accept lower wages or higher prices. Most voters want neither, so politicians offer them reshoring instead.
Companies know the truth. They build factories where costs are lowest, and they always will. Subsidies slow the shift but never stop it. Until Western workers accept either lower pay or Western consumers accept higher prices, reshoring will remain what it has always been: a campaign promise that dissolves the moment it meets reality.
In fabriek yn Noard-Dútslân ferleegje forrige moanne har personeelsbestand mei 40 prosint nei it ferpleatsen fan oarders werom nei Fietnam. De fabriekmanager neamde legere leanen en gjin milieuregels as reden. Dizze stille omdraaiing fertelt it echte ferhaal dat politikus weigerje ta te jaan: reshoring wie nea it plan, en dat sil it nea wêze.
Regearrings yn hiel Europa en Noard-Amearika brocht trije jier troch om reshoring as antwurd op fragile toeleveringsketens te promovearjen. Ministers hûlden talks oer ûnofhinklikheid en sterkte. Bedriuwen knikt yn iepenbiere ferklearrings. Mar doe't kontrakttijd quam, ferplaatsen fabrikanten produksje flugger dan oait nei goedkeapere lannen. Arbeidskosten yn Westerse lannen bliuwe trije oant fiif kear heger dan yn Súd-Oost-Azië, en gjin subsydzje kin dat gat tichtmeitsje.
De sifers bewize dit. Offisyele reshoring-sifers út Brussel en Washington telle allinnich projekten dy't it fernumje wurdich binne foar kiezers. Se negearje it folle gruttere folume nije fabryken dy't nea út Azië fertruten. Elektroanyske, tekstyl en basiskemikalieën breidden produksje yn China en Yndia út wylst Europeeske fabryken krympje. De statistiken ferbergje dit troch allinnich fabryken te mjitten dy't nei hûs kamen, net dy't nea fertruten.
Wêrom driuwe regearrings dizze fiksje? Reshoring klinkt goed yn elektions. It belooft banen en weardigens sûnder boargers te freegjen mear foar guod te beteljen of less konsumpsje te akseptearjen. It lit lieder "globalisme" beskúldigje wylst se de echte kar miskenne: akseptearje leger leanen of hegere prizen. De measte kiezers wolle gjin fan beide, dus biedet politikus har reshoring oan.
Bedriuwen kenne de wierheid. Se bouwe fabryken wêr kosten it leechst binne, en dat sille se altyd dwaan. Subsydzjes fertrage de ferskowing mar stopje dy nea. Oant Westerse wurkers leger leanen akseptearje of Westerse konsumenten hegere prizen akseptearje, bliuwt reshoring wat it altyd is west: in kampanjepromesse dy't ferdwynt sa gau't it wirklikheid ûntmoet.
Published May 5, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân