The US is poised to lose its 110-year run as the world’s largest manufacturing nation by output, in 2011 to China, according to IHS Global Insight figures released recently. The US created 19.9 per cent of world manufacturing output last year, compared with 18.6 per cent in China, despite the global downturn. According to IHS, a US-based economics consultancy, goods output by the US totaled US$1.7 trillion, ahead of China at US$1.6 trillion. However China’s factory output in 2011 will reach US$1.87 trillion, according to IHS estimates, putting it a fraction ahead of the projected US output. American resilience last year comes as a surprise, as the IHS predicted it would lose its number one position in 2009.