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Hydraulics leadership · Six-part series

Hydraulics: A Case Study in the Failure of American Industrial Leadership

From the CONEXPO show floor to Danfoss origin labels and the acquisition record: a six-part investigation of the capability America needs to keep.

David Schweickart · Field reporting, opinion and analysis · November 1, 2026

American industrial leadership should leave this country better able to design, manufacture, repair and supply the equipment it depends on. This series argues that acquisitions and commercial success must be judged against that productive capability.

The reporting moves from my photographs on the CONEXPO floor to individual product labels and the Danfoss–Eaton transaction record. WEITAI and Ningbo Zhongyi each have a separate manufacturer chapter. The Danfoss labels distinguish manufacture in India and China from a sensor’s separate assembly statement.

My argument is critical of the leadership choices, while the photographs and documents keep the claims specific. A display does not establish market share; a label describes its particular product; and a corporate transaction needs its own asset and rights record.

Read the six-part series

  1. Part 1: The industrial bargain America should demand

    Factories, engineering knowledge and independent supply: the argument behind the series.

  2. Part 2: At CONEXPO, follow the component behind the flag

    A firsthand account of the show floor, the flags and the component-supply question.

  3. Part 3: WEITAI: hydraulic systems on the American show floor

    My photograph at the Chinese manufacturer’s display, its stated offering and the American capability question.

  4. Part 4: Ningbo Zhongyi: put a name to the motor manufacturer

    The ziHYD and THOTH display, the product families and the questions a credible comparison needs.

  5. Part 5: Read the label: Danfoss products made in India and China

    The photographed manufacture statements, plus a separate sensor marked Assembled in China.

  6. Part 6: The acquisition, divestitures and technology rights

    The existing Danfoss–Eaton investigation, with its six supporting case chapters.

Photographs and firsthand notes by David Schweickart, with linked company and public records. The Danfoss–Eaton case chapters retain their distinctions between allegations, settlement terms, reported developments and analysis.