Will China Troubles Resurrect Made-in-America Brand?

China Manufacturing FBN Reuters The push by Apple (AAPL: 625.47, +1.16, +0.19%) contractor Foxconn to clean up working conditions in China underscores a desire for worker equality that has swept across emerging-market countries in recent years

The push by Apple (AAPL: 625.47, +1.16, +0.19%) contractor Foxconn to clean up working conditions in China underscores a desire for worker equality that has swept across emerging-market countries in recent years.

Some believe the sweeping changes could have a small ripple effect in the U.S., pushing American companies to ship manufacturing jobs back home, or at least closer to U.S. borders.

Apple's largest iPhone maker may be one of the first, and biggest, foreign contractors recently to launch a major campaign to improve conditions for workers in emerging markets, but others may follow as pressure mounts on multinational companies.

A desire for equality has blanketed the developing world, from Indonesia, where disruptive strikes last year led some government officials there to raise wages, to China, where the treatment of workers has long been an issue.

Yet, increasing wages while cutting hours and improving living conditions squeezes the already tight margins of Western companies that have for years taken advantage of cheap, trainable labor abroad. 

For some, foreign manufacturing is becoming far less desirable than just a few years ago.

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