De Leveringsketen-Ylluuzje: Wêrom 'Reshoring' Net Bart
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.
FryskIn fabryk yn Noard-Dútslân fermindere foarige moanne har personielsbestân mei 40 prosint nei't bestellings werom nei Fjetnam ferpleatst waarden. De fabryksmanager neamde legere leanen en gjin miljeuregels as reden. Dizze stille ommekear fertelt it echte ferhaal dat politisy wegerje ta te jaan: reshoring wie nea it plan, en dat sil it nea wêze.
Regearingen yn hiel Jeropa en Noard-Amearika brochten trije jier troch om reshoring as antwurd op kwetsbere leveringsketens te promoatsjen. Ministers holden taspraken oer ûnôfhinklikheid en krêft. Bedriuwen knikten yn iepenbiere ferklearrings. Mar doe't it tiid waard foar kontrakten, ferpleatsten fabrikanten produksje flugger as ea nei goedkeapere lannen. Arbeidskostens yn Westerske lannen bliuwe trije oant fiif kear heger as yn Súdeast-Aazje, en gjin subsydzje kin dat gat slute.
De sifers bewize dit. Offisjele reshoring-sifers út Brussel en Washington telle allinnich projekten dy't it neamen wurdich binne foar kiezers. Se negearje it folle grutere folume nije fabryken dy't nea út Aazje fuortgien binne. Elektronika, tekstyl en basisgemikaliën wreide produksje yn Sina en Yndia út wylst Jeropeeske fabryken ynkrompen. De statistiken ferbergje dit troch allinnich fabryken te mjitten dy't nei hûs kamen, net dy't nea fuortgien wiene.
Wêrom triuwe regearingen dizze fiksje? Reshoring klinkt goed by ferkiezings. It taseit banen en weardichheid sûnder boargers te freegjen mear foar guod te betelje of minder konsumpsje te akseptearje. It lit lieders 'globalisme' beskuldigje wylst se de echte kar mije: akseptearje legere leanen of hegere prizen. De measte kiezers wolle gjin fan beide, dus biede politisy har reshoring oan.
Bedriuwen kenne de wierheid. Se bouwe fabryken dêr't de kosten it leechst binne, en dat sille se altyd dwaan. Subsydzjes fertrage de ferskowing mar stopje dy nea. Oant Westerske wurknimmers legere leanen akseptearje of Westerske konsuminten hegere prizen akseptearje, bliuwt reshoring wat it altyd west hat: in kampanjebelofte dy't ferdwynt sadree't it de werklikheid moetet.
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.
Published May 5, 2026 · Frisian News · Ljouwert, Fryslân