Skateboarding has come a long way since the days of cutting a pair of roller skates in two and nailing them to a piece of plywood. Skateboarding is now a major sport, which has even been popularized in video games. Almost all of the parts of a skateboard (deck, trucks, bearings, wheels) are made in North America; whereas most of the accessories (video-games, toys, lunch-boxes) are manufactured by large companies in Asia. Since skateboarding has grown in popularity over the last few years, large companies are starting to invest in the industry, and are pushing for the skateboards to be made in Asia where their costs of doing business are less. This all may seem very irrelevant, but it has the potential to completely change the skateboard industry by tampering with the materials used to make the components used in the sport. This is why skateboards products should not be made in Asia. By manufacturing the skateboards in Asia, it will have a direct effect on the quality , appeal of the products, and on skateboarding as a sport.
             The quality of the finished product is affected by the quality of the raw materials. Almost all of the skateboard decks are made and pressed in North America, using Canadian maple (a very strong and durable wood). If the decks were made in Asia, instead of using Canadian Maple the companies would use Chinese maple, a much weaker wood causing the skateboard decks to break more easily. In North America they manufacture the deck by using special equipment, and techniques to make the most durable decks. Asian companies would have different manufacturing equipment which could change the design of the decks. Like most other large companies the Asian company would be focused on producing as many decks as possible rather than making a higher quality product which is what we have today.
             Not only would the quality of the products decrease, but smaller companies would not be able to compete with the large Asian compani
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