Is free-trade crushing U.S. manufacturers?

(FSB Magazine) -- Not everyone believes in the new manufacturing renaissance. Laurie Schmald Moncrieff, owner of Schmald Tool & Die in Burton, Mich. (schmald.com), has already invested in the latest machining and quality-control equipment. But her sales dropped from $4.5 million in 2005 to $3.5 million last year.

Moncrieff, 46, mainly supplies the auto industry: One of her biggest customers is troubled auto parts giant Delphi (Charts, Fortune 500). She says she's spent nearly five years trying to crack the aerospace and consumer goods markets, as well as Japanese automakers with U.S. factories.

Schmald Tool & Die president Laurie Schmald Moncrieff

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"We aren't staffed for that," she says. "We don't have the budget for a big marketing program. It just takes a long time to start fresh with new clients."

Moncrieff's customers want her to offshore some of her procurement and manufacturing, but she is hesitant. Instead she wants help from the federal government.

"We need to focus on the effect free-trade agreements have on small business," she says, hoping for trade restrictions that would give her business a lift. "They say ours is a service economy," Moncrieff adds, "but manufacturing is what grew this country, and I don't think you can base a viable economy on service alone."

Do you think free trade is hurting U.S. manufacturers? Do you think technological advancement can help American businesses compete with foreign manufacturers? Post your thoughts on the FSB blog.