Did you know the United States has become more competitive within the global manufacturing arena? According to the 2016 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, the U.S. is expected to take the top spot from China by 2020.

The U.S. improved from its 4th place ranking in 2010 to 2nd in this year’s study. Canada and Mexico also made the top ten, while China, Japan, South Korea, Germany, the United Kingdom, Taiwan and Singapore rounded out the list. The gap continues to close in regards cost competitiveness, and the biggest U.S. manufacturing differentiators include talent development and manufacturing technology growth. Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, India and Vietnam are noted as up and coming global players that could represent a “new China” in terms of low cost labor and agile manufacturing capabilities.

Read more on what manufacturing executives surveyed had to say about creating and keeping the competitive advantage in the U.S.