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and other aircraft—I wouldn’t be surprised tosee a 20 percent growth in our sales this yearalone, due to the agreement. Prior to the tradeagreement, servicing Korea’s aviation marketrequired payment of tariffs of up to 15 percent onparts—the customer would have to pay hundredsor thousands of additional dollars just to cover thetariffs. Now, the tariffs have either been removedor are in the process of being phased out, givingInfinity Air more leverage for competitive pricing.”But the FTA was not sufficient to grow thebusiness. Wu turned to the U.S. government,specifically the U.S. Commercial Service, to helpfind the customers. In 2010 Infinity Air was lookingto expand long-term partnership opportunitiesin Korea and sought counseling from the U.S.Commercial Service in Los Angeles and the U.S.Embassy in Korea. Wu attended a U.S. CommercialService Aerospace business matchmakingprogram at the 2010 Singapore Air Show; he wasintroduced to several airline representatives inmeetings prearranged by the U.S. CommercialService. As a result, he signed a representativeagreement with an airline and has greatlyexpanded Infinity Air’s presence in Korea.“There’s no question it would have been muchmore difficult and time-consuming for us if we’dtried to make this connection on our own. We alsogot essential firsthand insights into the legal andfinancial aspects of doing business in Korea. Withcontinued government help we’re now makingsales to aerospace operators in Turkey, Japan,Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Panama.Exporting has enabled us to buffer the ups anddowns of a tough economy, and made us a bettercompany by forcing us to face the reality of globalcompetition. Since 2008 we’ve doubled our exportsales, which shows what can be achieved with agood product and superior customer service.”Lessons LearnedPreviously fearful of the threat posed to hisbusiness by Chinese competitors, Wu feels he hasa more accurate view of what he’s up against. “TheChinese don’t have the imagination piece. Thismay be a cultural thing that’s very hard to change.We have that in this country. Some countries aregood at copying things. They are content takers,not makers. As a result, the takers are hiringAmericans to do the imagination part because weare content makers. Just look at Apple. No surprisethat most Asian car manufacturers design the carshere. Freedom is an integral part of this, and theChinese don’t have it and probably won’t for theforeseeable future.”Hard to say how long the foreseeable is, butWu plans to keep innovating and not wait tofind out. He believes that part of imagination issustainability and that it should be consideredin everything the company does. He sayssustainability generates imagination when you areforced to look at the whole process, the whole lifecycle, as Infinity does with everything it repairsand sells.“It’s not easy and takes time. We start by tellingpeople that they are unconscious and unskilled,and that at the end of the process they will beconscious and skilled. And finally they will beunconscious and skilled. In other words, lookingat things in new ways will become second nature;they won’t have to think about doing that.”It may sound “very southern California,” but Wuinsists it works. “We’re all doing it, includingme. We think it works. When we say you areunconscious and unskilled, don’t take it personally;it’s not a criticism. The goal is unconscious andskilled. The goal is for insights to become secondnature. It’s a long process.”Lastly, Wu has learned to be optimistic about thefuture of manufacturing in the United States. “Ithas been more than 30 years since my parentsovercame hardships in China to bring our familyto the United States. Looking back, I’m so happy tohave realized the dream of becoming an Americanand running an internationally successful business.In fact, I’m living the American Dream every day—and enjoying every second.”Success Story: Infinity Air73