For evidence America is still an industrial power, just look up   

Re: “It wasn’t Nazism that forced America into WWII”, Have Your Say, July 16.
Uncle Steve, aka Lungstib, said that “despite wartime defeat, the Germans and the Japanese have emerged as the victors in the industrial battle and the Americans much prefer to drive autos made in those countries than they do home-produced ones”.
May I ask Lungstib what kind of fleet Lufthansa, Japan Airlines (JAL) and All Nippon Airways (ANA) are operating? Mercedes-Benzes and Lexi? (plural of Lexus). Of course, every country has its specialities. Even Thailand has one, our famous tuk-tuk.
Somsak Pola
Samut Prakan