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Chinese government acknowledges outsourcing to countries with cheaper labor as a threat, and works on combating it. For example, their "Made in China 2025" plan

Chinese government acknowledges outsourcing to countries with cheaper labor as a threat, and works on combating it. For example, their "Made in China 2025" plan is centered around establishing China as the global technological leader in a number of high-tech industries and a source of skilled labor, not as the world's cheapest manufacturing plant it was a just few years ago. It still remains to be seen how successful they would be, but at least they recognize this situation as a problem in nearest future.

TimTheTinker 6y ago
> Chinese government acknowledges outsourcing to countries with cheaper labor as a threat I wish the US had seen this with equal clarity 30 years ago. Step 2 is to steadily increase prices once they have a manufacturing monopoly, and impose tariffs on imports.
- seanmcdirmid 6y ago
  That boat had already mostly sailed 30 years ago. We have to go back to the 60s or 70s to change course, and the use of outsourcing created a lot of wealth for the USA, I do think we should have done it differently.
  - jjoonathan 6y ago
    It created a lot of wealth for some in the USA. It destroyed a lot of wealth for others in the USA.
    - seanmcdirmid 6y ago
      Yes, but that is true of any advancement. In the long run, it just means we should have stopped devoting jobs to low level manufacturing and changed to higher level ones (e.g. software).
  - aphextron 6y ago
    >the use of outsourcing created a lot of wealth for the USA More like it transferred that wealth to the managerial class, while the US worker is flipping burgers for minimum wage now.
- airstrike 6y ago
  > I wish the US had seen this with equal clarity 30 years ago. We're too busy arguing over irrelevant stuff, unfortunately.
- reaperducer 6y ago
  I wish the US had seen this with equal clarity 30 years ago. Some people did. Even many politicians did. But they were shouted down as being racist and protectionist, and "globalism" was the future. Anyone who didn't get on board was called old and stupid.
  - obiye 6y ago
    Even with the facts spelled out clearly in this thread, you still get it wrong. Guess you ARE old and stupid.
  - EricE 6y ago
    Yup! How many conveniently forget this now when it's politically inconvenient.
  - landryraccoon 6y ago
    Or, we could have just made it easier for skilled workers from other countries to immigrate to the United States. 30 years ago (or even 5 years ago) I'm sure most of them would have happily immigrated to the US for a higher standard of living and better wages, and both they and the United States would be in a stronger position. IMO if a foreign adversary spends 20+ years and tens of thousands of dollars (at a minimum) training a highly skilled worker we would be insane not to take that skilled worker for free, if they want to move and work here.
    - frandroid 6y ago
      The problem was not lack of skilled labour here, though it is now, but rather the high cost of that skilled labour here, then and now. You can let in a skilled worker from Czechia or Romania but the expected wage here will be much higher than that of a Chinese worker, and they will be unemployed because the American designer of the product will get it made in China.
      - landryraccoon 6y ago
        You're missing the point. If all of China's top skilled labor moves to the US, even if they are cheaper then any manufacturer that needs the highest quality will have no choice but to manufacture in the US. Limiting immigration of highly skilled workers is a massive national security failure. It's a huge mistake. If a Chinese or Russian top tier engineer / AI researcher / wants to immigrate to the US we should roll out the red carpet because they're a strategic asset.
- bananabreakfast 6y ago
  They already have tariffs on imports. And not just the ones to spite Trump. iPhones are twice as expensive in China and they always have been.

TimTheTinker 6y ago

> Chinese government acknowledges outsourcing to countries with cheaper labor as a threat I wish the US had seen this with equal clarity 30 years ago. Step 2 is to steadily increase prices once they have a manufacturing monopoly, and impose tariffs on imports.

seanmcdirmid 6y ago
That boat had already mostly sailed 30 years ago. We have to go back to the 60s or 70s to change course, and the use of outsourcing created a lot of wealth for the USA, I do think we should have done it differently.
- jjoonathan 6y ago
  It created a lot of wealth for some in the USA. It destroyed a lot of wealth for others in the USA.
  - seanmcdirmid 6y ago
    Yes, but that is true of any advancement. In the long run, it just means we should have stopped devoting jobs to low level manufacturing and changed to higher level ones (e.g. software).
- aphextron 6y ago
  >the use of outsourcing created a lot of wealth for the USA More like it transferred that wealth to the managerial class, while the US worker is flipping burgers for minimum wage now.
airstrike 6y ago
> I wish the US had seen this with equal clarity 30 years ago. We're too busy arguing over irrelevant stuff, unfortunately.
reaperducer 6y ago
I wish the US had seen this with equal clarity 30 years ago. Some people did. Even many politicians did. But they were shouted down as being racist and protectionist, and "globalism" was the future. Anyone who didn't get on board was called old and stupid.
- obiye 6y ago
  Even with the facts spelled out clearly in this thread, you still get it wrong. Guess you ARE old and stupid.
- EricE 6y ago
  Yup! How many conveniently forget this now when it's politically inconvenient.
- landryraccoon 6y ago
  Or, we could have just made it easier for skilled workers from other countries to immigrate to the United States. 30 years ago (or even 5 years ago) I'm sure most of them would have happily immigrated to the US for a higher standard of living and better wages, and both they and the United States would be in a stronger position. IMO if a foreign adversary spends 20+ years and tens of thousands of dollars (at a minimum) training a highly skilled worker we would be insane not to take that skilled worker for free, if they want to move and work here.
  - frandroid 6y ago
    The problem was not lack of skilled labour here, though it is now, but rather the high cost of that skilled labour here, then and now. You can let in a skilled worker from Czechia or Romania but the expected wage here will be much higher than that of a Chinese worker, and they will be unemployed because the American designer of the product will get it made in China.
    - landryraccoon 6y ago
      You're missing the point. If all of China's top skilled labor moves to the US, even if they are cheaper then any manufacturer that needs the highest quality will have no choice but to manufacture in the US. Limiting immigration of highly skilled workers is a massive national security failure. It's a huge mistake. If a Chinese or Russian top tier engineer / AI researcher / wants to immigrate to the US we should roll out the red carpet because they're a strategic asset.
bananabreakfast 6y ago
They already have tariffs on imports. And not just the ones to spite Trump. iPhones are twice as expensive in China and they always have been.