Isn't the problem that if you are competitive with China they will steal the designs anyway, and potentially use any saved research capital to make improvements

Isn't the problem that if you are competitive with China they will steal the designs anyway, and potentially use any saved research capital to make improvements? You'll always be at a disadvantage if you're you're paying for your own competitors R&D. I do agree that manufacturing should come back on-shore to close that gap at least.