Manufacturers, including Caterpillar, Ford, and General Electric, are starting to move some production back to the US, although it's still just a trickle. The two factors that drove companies overseas, cheap fuel and labor, no longer favor far-flung ventures. The average price of a barrel of oil has gone from $22.81 in 2002 to $87.48 last year, so the price of shipping finished goods has jumped. China's wages have risen 15% a year in that time. Measured against more than 20 other currencies, the dollar has declined 23% since its peak in 2002. As a result, the cost of factory labor in dollar terms fell 11% in the US from 2002 to 2010, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As companies have gotten better at reducing inventory and adopting just-in-time delivery, supply chains stretching around the world have started to look like liabilities.