Oil prices rising, whose boat is gonna sink?

Us north americans, have enjoyed manufacturing and driving huge cars, driving for miles …for years  but with gallon at $4, it has even forced car makers to keep their SUVs in garage, even better, not make them anymore. That’s land. In air, Air Canada and Westjet - two major canadians airlines have been charging fuel surcharge, not to mention some funny fees like “second baggage fee” and coming up with things like concierge fee.  Not to mention they have increased their ticket prices, and cut down many seasonal routes. That’s air for you!

What about sea? Major mode of transportation for world trade. Thought about that? The cost of shipping finished products from China have sky rockted in past few years, thanks to surging fuel costs. Chinese exporters are already feeling the heat, who work on narrow profit margins. Exporters usually pass down the costs to us, the consumers! So, does outsourcing your factories to China or India - give you a financial advantage anymore? I don’t know.  Would setting up factories in North America and Europe would make sense - well shipping costs would definitely fall, but labour costs would rise and there would be fewer economies of scale

China is probably effected by it as well, the whole south-east asian export model where what you buy is manufactured/assembled in China with parts coming from Taiwan, Korea etc. Clearly, transportation cost is a big issue. Either way, considering the economic health of many companies this issue will not be looked at with a blind eye - especially when no one knows if the oil would peak $200 or fall back to $100.