An FTA with Korea would be a big deal for U.S. manufacturers.

The rise in exporting is a win for manufacturers.

It's not that manufacturers are unduly pessimistic, but they are contending with unprecedented challenges that affect their outlook.

It was really no big deal then, and still isn't to me. I think the whole problem with it is they made a really big deal of it after I left. To me, it was already done. I was at home. I don't really even remember it.

It wasn't really a big deal,

I used to be mouthy. It was all to do with being a northerner and from Manchester, which was suddenly a big deal when I was in my 20s. When I read some of the interviews I did back then, I cringe.