More and more people arrive in the U.S. everyday looking for work. According to CNN, the number of Chinese expat employees in the U.S has spiked dramatically over the last decade. In fact, in the same report, which references an analysis of government data by CNNMoney, the U.S. granted 10,258 L-series visas to Chinese workers and family members in , more than four times the number approved in . The L-1 visa allows for companies with U.S. and foreign operations to move their staff to America. This is extremely prevalent in the steel building industry.
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Now, Chinese firms are buying up and partnering with American companies behind the scenes. Several steel building brokers &#; expensive middlemen purely in the business of outsourcing &#; now turn to their foreign partners for steel because it&#;s cheaper, and because of their partnership, it&#;s in their best financial interest. Whether you agree or not, that is a danger to American companies who refuse to be bought and strive to deliver a 100% American-made product. But a few questions still remain for the average builder. What is in YOUR best interest? Does it matter to you where companies get their steel? Do you even know where your steel building comes from?
You get what you pay for when it comes to the construction industry. We&#;re talking about a huge difference in quality between American and foreign steel, and it&#;s going completely unnoticed to first time builders. I can&#;t stand for something that puts American lives and American jobs at risk. These American companies that sell out to foreign steel manufacturers are making a conscious decision that price and profits are more important than quality and safety. What are you left with if you, as a first time builder, unknowingly buy cheap, foreign steel? You&#;ll have a cheap product that breaks down and doesn&#;t last. That&#;s why I implore you to do your research when it comes to choosing a steel building manufacturer. Come ready to ask your steel building supplier these hard questions.
Are you a broker?
Go ahead. Come right out and ask, because you deserve to know. Do you know the difference between a steel building broker and a steel building manufacturer? Brokers might refer to themselves as &#;contract manufacturers,&#; but they don&#;t actually manufacture anything. Brokers don&#;t employ personnel to design, engineer and fabricate a pre-engineered steel building. Instead, the main function of a broker is to take your desired dimensions and shop them around to manufacturers. Think of it like this &#; Brokers are only working as &#;middle-men&#; who want to sell you the cheapest building. They are essentially mediators between contractors, manufacturers, companies, and the customer. In fact, that&#;s all some steel building companies can do. They&#;ll send out for all of the other important aspects that other manufacturers, like Armstrong Steel, can do in-house. Buying from a broker means you could be buying from an unknown source. That unknown source could very well be providing cut-rate, unsafe steel from China.
Where do you get your steel?
Low quality or cheap buildings might not be structurally sound. They have the increased potential to break or collapse. Now we&#;re talking about your safety, your family&#;s safety, or the general welfare of your business. I&#;m not saying that a quality project can&#;t be inexpensive; I&#;m just advising that you should pay attention to exactly what you are being quoted. Not all steel buildings are created equal, and you don&#;t want to choose a low-end product because it&#;s cheap! Believe me when I say this &#; cutting corners for the sake of profit in construction is one of the most misguided approaches to an industry that hinges on the safety of its products and the overall concern for its customers.
Chinese steel doesn&#;t have to go through the rigorous testing that American steel goes through. It&#;s usually not held up to the same standards, specifications or regulations, and it&#;s often not quality controlled the same way. As recent as , some Chinese steel companies even added Boron to their steel so they could earn a tax rebate. The problem? Adding the element made welds more likely to crack, and that&#;s a safety hazard for construction workers and builders! Any company says it will stand behind its product, but how long will they do it for? One year? 10 years? How about 50 years? Armstrong Steel offers a 50-year structural warranty. Ask the steel building supplier where they get their steel. Is it from overseas? Is it cheaply dumped steel from a foreign country and disguised as an American product? Or is it actually manufactured right here in America? Make no mistake; buying from Armstrong Steel is buying American.
Why don&#;t I want a cheap building?
Most of the time, the cheapest building will be the lowest quality building. Whether it&#;s not designed for your particular area, or if it&#;s a red iron building, a cheap building could become a very expensive mistake. Why save money on an initial purchase, just to see those savings vaporize because labor costs increase, or you incur unplanned bills due to maintenance or replacement parts?
With cheaper buildings, there is much more potential for design flaws due to poor engineering. When holes don&#;t line up properly or pieces are missing, the construction delays can add up. Now the cheapest building is causing headaches on the back end of your project! Remember, you&#;re planning for a whole project here! Consider the source of your pre-engineered steel building, pay attention to the details and ask questions until you&#;re satisfied with the overall quality of the material.
It&#;s important, as a country, to really put our purchase decisions under a microscope in these situations. In a time when our budgets are tighter, we must be more thoughtful with our spending, and take a closer look about who or what makes the products we use every day.
You have many options when it choosing a steel building supplier. Be confident in your choice to Buy American, not just because it fulfills your innate patriotic ideals, but also because that company values your safety and your general well-being over markets and profits. That&#;s about as American as you can get.
Photo courtesy: Jessica Syrena
Chinese Steel is Unsafe and Should Not Be Used for Your Metal Building
Chinese-made steel is a massive problem in the steel industry because people are unaware of the quality of the steel they are purchasing.
Many individuals and businesses do not realize that Chinese steel firms are buying and partnering with American companies behind the scenes.
In fact, according to CNN Money, in alone 10,258 L-series visas were issued to Chinese workers, and that number is undoubtedly much higher now.
Chinese steel companies are sending workers to America and moving their production to the states.
This not only threatens the American steel industry and jobs, but it is also putting millions of people at risk because many of today&#;s prefabricated metal buildings are built with low quality steel, which means they lack structural integrity, unbeknownst to the builder.
Keep reading to learn more about the many issues associated with using cheap, Chinese-made steel, for your metal building projects.
Why Using Cheap Steel for Your Metal Building is a Bad Idea
You may be wondering how this applies to you.
Why should you care where your steel comes from? A bargain is a bargain, right?
Wrong.
There are countless reasons why cheap Chinese steel is a bad investment, but the two main reasons are that it is hazardous to use, and more costly because of the issues you will face down the road.
Chinese Made Steel Is Unsafe
In addition to costing you more money than you could have ever expected, cheap steel is very unsafe to use.
Chinese companies do not have to meet the same standards or undergo the same rigorous testing that American steelmakers do.
American steel must meet specific regulations and quality control. With the recent rise in steel buildings being used as recreational facilities it is important to make sure that the steel is made from passes these standards.
Low-quality steel is not structurally sound and has an increased potential to collapse or break.
For example, in Chinese steel companies added the element Boron to their steel.
This allowed companies to receive a tax rebate, which is great for profit. However, the element Boron causes welds to crack. This is a terrifyingly huge safety hazard.
This means your cheap, outsourced steel could fail at any moment, putting yourself, your employees, your facility, production equipment, product, and entire business at risk.
This is a chance you do not want to take. It is not a matter of if your cheap Chinese steel will fail; it&#;s a matter of when.
Chinese Made Steel Is Not Cost-Effective
While using cut-rate steel may save you some money upfront, it will prove to be an expensive mistake in the long run.
Low-quality steel will not last. It will need to be replaced or repaired relatively quickly after building, depending on just how cheap the quality is.
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Another primary concern you should have is the cheap steel breaking and your building collapsing. This can result in expensive damages, serious injuries, and even a career-ending lawsuit.
Save yourself the headache and pay for quality steel upfront and your metal building will last a lifetime.
What Are Steel Building Brokers and Why Should I Question Them?
Steel building brokers are essentially middlemen that find their customers the steel they need to build their metal buildings.
When an individual or business comes to a broker to engineer and fabricate their metal building, they are not actually manufacturing or engineering anything in-house.
Rather, they take your building dimensions and needs and shop around to find the cheapest manufacturer and contractor to get the job done.
They then charge their customer more than the job costs so that they can turn a profit on the job.
While this seems like a typical business, these brokers are solely looking out for their best financial interests. They use foreign partners and cheap steel so they can turn a more substantial profit.
This outsourced steel is cheaper because it is low quality, not tested for safety, or held to the same standards as their American-made counterparts.
American companies that refuse to be bought out and continue to deliver a high-quality products are now being threatened because they can&#;t compete with the low prices charged by Chinese steelmakers, so they are constantly being outbid.
Therefore, it is essential to know the source of your steel.
Why Should the Quality of Your Steel Building Matter to You?
You may be wondering why you should spend more money on your steel building.
It is in your best interest to buy quality steel and investigate where a company is sourcing its steel. After all, you get what you pay for.
First-time builders may not notice a difference in quality, but the difference is there.
Foreign steel manufacturers are valuing profits over safety, and I don&#;t know about you, but I do not want to support a company that is making a conscious decision to put profit over human safety.
You want a quality product that is going to last.
So, ask your steel building manufacturer the hard questions.
How to Find Out the Quality of Steel You Are Purchasing?
Unfortunately, it is not always apparent when a company is using cheap steel, and a broker may not be upfront about the source of your pre-engineered building.
In fact, many companies hide the fact that they are brokers and outsource their steel manufacturing.
The easiest way to find out if a company is a broker is just to ask.
&#;Are you a broker?&#;
&#;Where is your steel sourced?&#;
The answer to these two questions should tell you everything you need to know.
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Nucor Building Systems is a leader in Pre-Engineered Metal Buildings.
We chose to partner with Nucor because of their high-quality, American-made steel that is environmentally-friendly and made from 90% recycled steel.
Building with Nucor steel allows CDMG to provide our valued customers with safe and sustainable metal buildings that adhere to the highest standards.
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