Anything connected to the Trump administration is going look pretty dumb by default to most, and the politics of the U.S.-China spat are certainly a mess. Howe

Anything connected to the Trump administration is going look pretty dumb by default to most, and the politics of the U.S.-China spat are certainly a mess. However, there are compelling economic reasons for manufacturers to move operations to new places (Note: Likely not the U.S.). Just for one example, compare the population age pyramid of China[1] to that of India[2]. The way in which China's long standing (but now retired) one-child policy has shaped their population pyramid into a top-heavy column is truly unreal. They have a huge cohort entering retirement age and another big cohort entering their late 30's where they're experienced rather than cheap workers. If you want young, cheap labour in China, the supply is about to start contracting Meanwhile India's age pyramid really is a pyramid. As China's cheap labour pool shrinks, India's is set to grow massively. Factory wages in India are currently about one fifth of China's too. If you're building a shiny new iPhone factory that will need a multitude of the cheapest human hands money can hire, they're not in China anymore. The gap is going to widen substantially over the next decade or so too. It will take a lot to break up existing supply chains and pry them out of China, but the economic incentives exist today and will become more irresistible each passing year. Automation is, of course, a wild-card, but what might work to keep factories in China will work to bring them back to places like the U.S.. Automation works in any country, but demographics no longer favour China when it comes to the one thing that has attracted manufacturers looking to make things as cheaply as possible: cheap labour. This may be why we've seen China becoming increasingly aggressive over the last few years. Their economic base is peaking and decline is in sight. Now is the time to grab as much power, territory, and influence as possible and try to solidify it before that economic base melts away. [1]https://www.populationpyramid.net/china/2019/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/china/2019/ [2]https://www.populationpyramid.net/india/2019/ https://www.populationpyramid.net/india/2019/