4 ms·

If only a nation could manufacture things locally and not be required to get them from Asia...

by yborg 5y ago

WalterBright 5y ago
They could, but the government has made it too costly to manufacture locally.
- jandrese 5y ago
  The government made the companies start accounting for externalities like not poisoning the rivers and not having the workers fall entirely on the government dole the instant they retire. So companies did what they do and went to countries that didn't care about protecting the environment or populace. Blaming the government for this state of affairs is misguided.
  - tengbretson 5y ago
    The government could stop signing free trade agreements with other countries that don't similarly protect the environment or populace.
    - spiralx 5y ago
      Sadly the TPP was abandoned along with the significant environmental and worker protections it would have imposed, neither of which I can see being a feature of China's replacement for it.
  - WalterBright 5y ago
    The regulations go far, far beyond environmental issues. For example, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/modernizing-regulatory-review/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-action...
    - spiralx 5y ago
      That's about improving the regulatory process, not sure what's your point?
tootie 5y ago
Labor costs would devour shipping costs instantly. The US is approaching full employment again. Even if we had factory capacity, there aren't 10M spare workers to do the jobs. Not without wage inflation.
- forinti 5y ago
  I don't understand why the US doesn't try to make Central America at least moderately well-off instead of building a wall. Here is another chance: put some of the manufacturing in Central America where costs are much lower and there's not much of a distance to market.
  - bpicolo 5y ago
    Because the materials that go into production are located in Asia. It's the second, third, fourth order dependencies that are challenging. Relocating would mean both building up entire verticals from raw material and all stages of processing, but also everything adjacent - labor force with expertise, transportation and distribution, etc. This is happening in various parts of the world for various industries, but it's slow and capital intensive.
  - cromka 5y ago
    This is the strategy of current administration, see this from yesterday: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/12/13/vice-president-kamala-harris-announces-new-commitments-as-part-of-the-call-to-action-for-the-private-sector-to-deepen-investment-in-central-america-now-totaling-over-1-2-billion/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases...
  - wing-_-nuts 5y ago
    >I don't understand why the US doesn't try to make Central America at least moderately well-off instead of building a wall. Boy wait till you hear about this new thing called 'NAFTA'. Hey, we gutted our manufacturing sector but those folks in northern mexico sure are happy. I'm not anti freetrade, but we absolutely destroyed good jobs open to people without a degree, and then had ivory tower economists tell us it was for our own good. It's not hard to understand why such areas would support a horrible person for president if he acted like he was on their side.
testcase_delta 5y ago
I'm actually making a new toy in the US partially in response to the shipping backlog. The US is the second largest manufacturer in the world behind China (I find lots of people don't know that). As long as you design things that don't require much hand labor prices can be competitive while being made in the US. China is no longer the cheap place to manufacturer hand labor intensive items. Vietnam is where that happens. If you ever want to know where it's cheapest to have things made by hand look at where clothing is made.

If only a nation could manufacture things locally and not be required to get them from Asia...

by yborg 5y ago

If only a nation could manufacture things locally and not be required to get them from Asia...

WalterBright 5y ago

They could, but the government has made it too costly to manufacture locally.

jandrese 5y ago
The government made the companies start accounting for externalities like not poisoning the rivers and not having the workers fall entirely on the government dole the instant they retire. So companies did what they do and went to countries that didn't care about protecting the environment or populace. Blaming the government for this state of affairs is misguided.
- tengbretson 5y ago
  The government could stop signing free trade agreements with other countries that don't similarly protect the environment or populace.
  - spiralx 5y ago
    Sadly the TPP was abandoned along with the significant environmental and worker protections it would have imposed, neither of which I can see being a feature of China's replacement for it.
- WalterBright 5y ago
  The regulations go far, far beyond environmental issues. For example, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/modernizing-regulatory-review/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-action...
  - spiralx 5y ago
    That's about improving the regulatory process, not sure what's your point?

tootie 5y ago

Labor costs would devour shipping costs instantly. The US is approaching full employment again. Even if we had factory capacity, there aren't 10M spare workers to do the jobs. Not without wage inflation.

forinti 5y ago
I don't understand why the US doesn't try to make Central America at least moderately well-off instead of building a wall. Here is another chance: put some of the manufacturing in Central America where costs are much lower and there's not much of a distance to market.
- bpicolo 5y ago
  Because the materials that go into production are located in Asia. It's the second, third, fourth order dependencies that are challenging. Relocating would mean both building up entire verticals from raw material and all stages of processing, but also everything adjacent - labor force with expertise, transportation and distribution, etc. This is happening in various parts of the world for various industries, but it's slow and capital intensive.
- cromka 5y ago
  This is the strategy of current administration, see this from yesterday: https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/12/13/vice-president-kamala-harris-announces-new-commitments-as-part-of-the-call-to-action-for-the-private-sector-to-deepen-investment-in-central-america-now-totaling-over-1-2-billion/ https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases...
- wing-_-nuts 5y ago
  >I don't understand why the US doesn't try to make Central America at least moderately well-off instead of building a wall. Boy wait till you hear about this new thing called 'NAFTA'. Hey, we gutted our manufacturing sector but those folks in northern mexico sure are happy. I'm not anti freetrade, but we absolutely destroyed good jobs open to people without a degree, and then had ivory tower economists tell us it was for our own good. It's not hard to understand why such areas would support a horrible person for president if he acted like he was on their side.

testcase_delta 5y ago

I'm actually making a new toy in the US partially in response to the shipping backlog. The US is the second largest manufacturer in the world behind China (I find lots of people don't know that). As long as you design things that don't require much hand labor prices can be competitive while being made in the US. China is no longer the cheap place to manufacturer hand labor intensive items. Vietnam is where that happens. If you ever want to know where it's cheapest to have things made by hand look at where clothing is made.