Business & Trade - Business in the U.S.

The census of 1890 was the first in which the output of America's factories exceeded the output of its farms. Afterwards U.S. industry went through a period of rapid expansion. By 1913, more than one-third of the world's industrial production came from the United States.

It was America's good fortune to be spared the devastation suffered by other nations during the 20th century's two world wars. By the end of World War II in 1945, the United States had the greatest productive capacity of any country in the world, and the words "Made in the U.S.A." were a seal of high quality.

The 20th century has seen the rise and decline of several industries in the United States. The auto industry, long the mainstay of the American economy, has struggled to meet the challenge of foreign competition. The garment industry has declined in the face of competition from countries where labor is cheaper. But other manufacturing industries have appeared and flourished, including airplanes and cellular telephones, microchips and space satellites, microwave ovens and high-speed computers.

Many of the currently rising industries tend to be highly automated and thus need fewer workers than traditional industries. As high-tech industries have grown and older industries have declined, the proportion of American workers employed in manufacturing has dropped. Service industries now dominate the economy, leading some observers to call America a "postindustrial" society. Selling a service rather than making a product, these industries include entertainment and recreation, hotels and restaurants, communications and education, office administration, and banking and finance.

Although there have been times in its history when the United States pursued an isolationist foreign policy, in business affairs it has generally been strongly internationalist. The presence of American business has drawn a mixed response in the rest of the world. People in some countries resent the Americanization of their cultures; others accuse American firms of pressuring foreign governments to serve U.S. political and economic interests rather than local interests. On the other hand, many foreigners welcome American products and investment as a means of raising their own standards of living.

By injecting new capital into other economies, American investors can set in motion forces impossible to predict. Some Americans are concerned that by investing abroad, American business is nurturing future competitors. They note that U.S. government policies fostered Japan's economic resurgence after World War II and that American corporations shared technology and sent experts to teach the Japanese such practices as quality control - practices that the Japanese have since carried to new and highly profitable heights. The ratification of the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1993, however, confirmed the continuing American commitment to robust international trade.

Most Americans believe that the rise of their nation as a great economic power could not have occurred under any system except capitalism and that government should interfere in commerce as little as possible.

- Abridged from State Dept. Publications and other U.S. government materials

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