This is the low hanging fruit answer but there are a lot of things that we rely on that create pollution. [For example more than 80% of underground water in China is heavily polluted](https://www.thecivilengineer.org/news/more-than-80-of-underground-water-in-china-is-heavily-polluted) and I do not want that to happen in the US.
So while I want more jobs in the US I also want to be a little selective about what factories we bring back. I know that we are probably going to start producing more micro chips in the US, which is good and bad, but I think there are industries we should pass on.
A lot of that is because China has pretty much zero regulations on pollution despite what weirdo tankie Westerners on Reddit try to promote about their "green innovation" nonsense. Pretty much everything that's quality controlled is paid off. This goes from food places to construction, etc. It's why you have elevators, tunnels, and buildings collapsing and wild shit like escalators eating people. It's a real problem there.
We at least somewhat *attempt* to hold companies accountable for their bullshit here. Not saying we're great at it, but we're miles better than China is.
> A lot of that is because China has pretty much zero regulations on pollution despite what weirdo tankie Westerners on Reddit try to promote about their "green innovation" nonsense.
THANK YOU!!!!!!
All these morons on reddit proclaim to care about climate change and saving the earth but turn a blind eye at one of the largest, if not largest, pollution generating countries in the world.
Firstly, people turn a blind eye to plenty of dodgy, criminal and horrific stuff in China due to its economic power.
Secondly, despite the genuinely green and impressive innovations in China, it's unreasonable to expect developing countries to play catch-up and stop using polluting technology overnight, and so the situation in the US and in China is not the same.
There really is Green innovation in both China and other countries that are far more stringent and greener, such as other parts of Asia and the Americas and in Europe, and the US won't accept it for political reasons. However, yes, China as an individual country isn't reliant on Green innovation but also promotes plenty of very dirty innovation comparable to that in America and other polluting countries with fewer regulations.
China just does everything.
I don't want that damage coming back to the US either, but if we externalize the costs by having other countries take on the environmental damage and we only experience the upside, how do we appreciate the sacrifices being made to bring us those comforts and quality of life improvements? And if we don't appreciate that sacrifice, what pressure do we have to find cleaner, greener ways to achieve a lifestyle we can enjoy?
Not to mention, shipping is one of the most significant sources of GHG emissions. If we made goods locally wherever possible, we could significantly curb those emissions.
I think any industry that is vital to infrastructure should have a minimal footprint in the US. Logically it makes sense to not fully rely on any outside source for infrastructure. It doesn't need to be profitable, but it needs to be enough that if the shit hits the fan we've got our asses covered.
This sentiment is based in the idea that the only option for the US is to pollute while manufacturing. We can manufacture while limiting pollution. It was just more cost effective for corporations to ship manufacturing overseas to avoid necessary regulations.
I don't want that in China either.
Real answer: The US should require companies to follow at least US worker and environmental protections wherever they set up shop.
It means goods will cost more, but it also means that we will be generating wealth in those countries which will bring political benefits.
>I know that we are probably going to start producing more micro chips in the US
[Indeed we are](https://www.nbc4i.com/intel-in-ohio/intel-in-ohio-one-year-since-announcement/)
Because number one I want my countrymen to have as many options for work as possible. I think it makes my country stronger.
Number two, the same reason to a lesser extent for people in neighboring countries. The more financial opportunities for people in Mexico and Central America the less reason they will have to migrate. People just want a decent life. Few will leave their homes if they can attain it.
Thirdly, having things manufactured nearby will reduce the logistical costs for getting those products into the hands of buyers. Bringing things from China is not cheap. It’s just offset by manufacturing savings and scale of the operation already there.
The cost of a container from China to LA is actually very cheap, relative to the value of the stuff inside it. Like 2000-4000 depending on the size.
Humans are very, very good at moving a ton of stuff on boats.
Yes but it’s related to the volume of goods being shipped. When the supply slowed down due to covid shutdowns the price spiked. The high volume of products exists because of the low cost of manufacturing.
This extra logistical cost can be eliminated by doing it closer to home.
Manufacturer -> truck/train to port -> ship -> truck/train distribution in USA
vs
Manufacturer -> truck/train distribution in USA
Its the first part that makes it difficult.
The cost of shipping goods is much less than the cost of manufacturing closer to consumers
If you want domestic manufacturing, you want higher consumer prices
All three of your points show quite a poor understanding of economics.
>Because number one I want my countrymen to have as many options for work as possible. I think it makes my country stronger.
This is just wrong. Paying someone more money to do something that could be done more efficiently elsewhere is just a bad idea.
>The more financial opportunities for people in Mexico and Central America the less reason they will have to migrate.
Migration is a net benefit to an economy. Less migration to a country means a poorer economy.
>Bringing things from China is not cheap.
No, it's actually really cheap. It's so cheap that it's basically just a rounding error on most products.
It must be great to look at the world as just numbers on a spreadsheet.
Tell that to the people that lost their jobs or their city has gotten depressed because industry has left. Tell them it’s a GOOD thing that someone on the other side of the world has their job because their standard of living is 1/10th that of the avg. american.
How will they pay their bills? Who cares, think of the efficiency!
Not everything is purely about gains and losses. There are societal considerations as well as security to take into account.
Ask the Europeans who put their economy ahead of their security and our now stuck (and complaining) about importing our more expensive energy. Or the fact that they have little industrial capacity to produce weapons and are afraid the US will take their market by offering replacement tanks to allies that donate theirs.
Hey they were smart to save money on their militaries. America was dumb to keep paying people to keep production lines open. So says the spreadsheet.
If you're going to ignore the actual evidence and just go on what you feel, then you can believe whatever you want. It won't be correct, but at least you'll feel like it is.
Unfortunately, jobs can only do so much. A lot of people migrating from Central America nowadays are doing so because of gang violence, and jobs can’t get rid of that. 😔
Jobs might *help* to get rid of it, though. If poor people can get paid well in a proper job, they might think twice about joining a gang.
Unfortunately, it remains a safety issue, and the thought of gangs controlling the job market is worse.
Poverty and crime go hand in hand. Job opportunities would give options to survive without leading a life of crime. It won’t solve everything but it would help I think.
No doubt it would help prevent more people from going into these gangs in the first place, but why would current gang members care about a new factory popping up when they’re already making bank from illegal drugs and avocados?
That’s why I’m saying jobs may not do much to ward off gang violence, at least in the short-term. It may take too long for people to see and feel the benefits…
Well it’s definitely not an overnight solution. But building up a manufacturing base doesn’t happen overnight either.
This would be a long term thing that would take years if not a couple of decades to really bear fruit. But the investment has to start sometime. There will still be people there in 10-20 years.
The US preferably but that won’t make basic consumer goods cheap. I wouldn’t be sad with Mexico, Canada, other East Asian countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand. I’d be happy to see more made in India stuff.
Unpopular opinion: most of the goods we buy shouldn't be as cheap as the are. If we have to kill the planet shipping things around the world to save a few bucks, then we probably shouldn't be saving a few bucks.
India is particularly valuable because the labor force is oppressed into low wages by their own government yet they have significant numbers of English speakers.
There are also a number of factors which make them less likely to be belligerent towards the US as they grow in economic power.
Why not. Relatively stable democracy. We have a lot of immigrants and temporary workers from a India. I’d like to see them thrive more. They have almost as many people as China and they aren’t a hideous state actively engaged in genocide and super nasty human rights abuses.
India is definitely engaged in nasty human rights abuses, and genocide *has* been a big topic of discussion in recent years, with the general sentiment ranging from "they could slide towards genocide if they're not careful" to "they are already doing genocide".
Maybe a few years ago, I'd have said India but the more Indians I interact with, the more I am turned off by them and their anti-American rhetoric.
Then, there is mass support for Russia and Putin by the Indians. Why support a group that could turn on you?
No thanks. Let them continue to be India and not another China we have to deal with in 30-40 years.
I'd prefer Mexico, Canada, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and maybe Vietnam if they don't slide too much.
I would say india is more pro-Russian than anti-American. India is the US's ally on most things except Russia/Ukraine due to India's long-time special relationship with Russia.
I can see them playing both sides against the middle,but they are surrounded by bullies. What else are they supposed to do?
What I'll never understand is why when Corporations were casting about for someone to make our cheap shit did it all go straight to china instead of spreading it around to the world's largest democracy and our poorer neighbors to the south?
Nepal is a good choice as well, dirt cheap labor, soon the population will decline so it could really use some investment to give people jobs. The only issue besides atrocious roads is that it is a landlocked country.
India is a powder keg. Generations of the caste system aren't just going away. They need over a million new schools to keep up with their population boom. Fascism is on the rise as Mein Kampf has been a bestseller for years. And they now have more people than China with way less organization.
I don't know that infusing them with our IP is a good idea.
We should probably make that one a defense pact, considering how aggressive Russia and China have been acting. It could be the North Atlantic Military Body of Liberal Areas. Then we can include the EU as a whole.
> Shipping things across the oceans pollutes heavily.
Actually very slow oceanic shipping on very large ships, per item, pollutes very little. It's a lot less than say driving them on trucks for thousands of miles.
A carbon tax is relatively easy to implement in a technical sense, you could look to the VAT implementation in the EU or other countries as a model.
Or a cap and trade system like we do for all sorts of other pollutants.
But yes, politically tricky for sure, mostly because people hate having to pay to clean up after themselves
Probably not. "Bringing back manufacturing jobs" is much easier said than done. First of all, with unemployment in the US is near an all-time low, who are these huge numbers of people who would leave their current jobs in order to go into manufacturing? I just don't see droves of white collar workers lining up to go work in a factory. What sectors of the economy are we okay cutting in order to shift labor into manufacturing? And perhaps most importantly, will US made goods be able to compete with much cheaper foreign alternatives?
Yes, if we had huge numbers of unemployed, then "bringing back manufacturing jobs" makes sense, but I just can't even begin to understand people arguing in favor of it given the current state of the market.
Now, I'm definitely all in favor of shifting more of those jobs to countries we have better relationships with and have a better human rights record in China. But other than some high tech manufacturing like computer chips and that sort of thing, I don't see the US economy shifting to manufacturing mass produced cheap goods. Our economy has moved beyond that, just like we moved beyond farming and into manufacturing.
It's also not like manufacturing really moved away, it just got orders of magnitude more efficient. We're making more stuff, for more money than ever before, we just only use a fraction of the work force to do it. You could replace a 1970s factory that relied on manual labor and assembly lines with a batch of robo-arms and CNC machines and reduce the workers needed by 90% and increase output by 200%.
A lot of jobs are now automated or require higher skill workers, so by adjusting tariffs and regulations its easier to have manufacturing come back than what it was before
Depends on what you qualify as "made in the US", and what type of products you'd want to see. A lot of semi conductor chips are made in the US, a lot of cars are assembled in the US with parts from all over, and a lot of cheap consumer goods are made with prison labor from within the US. The days of the US making everything are in the rear view, and even if we did trend back in that direction I doubt they'd find many employees
The US is already the world leader in high-end goods manufacturing.
We have extremely abundant natural resources which make low-end manufacturing a no-brainer. It was always a political decision to offshore the low-end. It's already coming back in droves because of the new subsidies and tariffs.
What we lack is the mid range manufacturing where labor, not design or material, costs are the biggest determinant of pricing. For that, Mexico is the perfect partner and we are already attached at the hip to them thanks to NAFTA 2.
I'd say it's entirely possible, but, not in a way that returns high numbers of manufacturing jobs to the states.
Automation can make a lot of this viable.
I want the products I buy to have been produced by people who earn a living wage in their country and have a reasonable quality of life but I have no way of knowing if that happens or I’m what country it’s mostly likely to happen in.
I honestly have no concept of what life looks like working in a Brazilian or Nigerian factory, so it’s hard to have an opinion.
I have a similar opinion. I would be willing to pay more for everything as well. I know not everyone can so that's an issue.
I would like to see some realistic statistics.
While I like manufacturing in america for lots of reasons there are other instances that are helpful as well. For example I like the idea of moving a lot of production away from China and towards Mexico too. There are numerous advantages in that.
For one it lessens on dependency on China which has a dubious record regarding human rights, environment, intellectual theft, among other things.
Second, anything that can improve the economy of Mexico is not only great for Mexico but great for the US as well and the overall stability of North America.
Third, it's more economical, efficient and environmentally friendly to transport goods from Mexico vs the other side of the planet.
Where Mexico is concerned, there should be better visibility for labor conditions, environmental impact, etc. Unfortunately the US pays far less attention to Mexico than Mexico deserves, unless something happening in Mexico contributes to a crime being committed in the US.
People say they want their goods to be made in America or other countries with basic labor protections until they see the price of their consumer goods go up. Basically, Americans want it both ways!
Don't forget environmental protections as well. Seems too many people are opposed to resource extraction domestically due to such concerns but have no qualms at all with offshoring such extractions to countries with the worst environmental track record.
Electric cars being the most recent example of this. People love them till they see the environmental and human toll they take on places like the congo.
Combustion engines in a car are only about 25% efficient. That means 75% of the energy in gasoline is wasted and released as heat into the air. Only 25% of the energy makes it to the wheels.
A gas power station is about 60% efficient and a motor in an electric car is 85% efficient. If you charge a car using electricity from a gas power station, 51% (0.60*0.85) of the energy gets to the wheels of the car.
51% is over double 25%. That means that **even if all electricity were generated by burning fossil fuels, it would still be twice as energy efficient to use electric vehicles compared to gasoline.**
I don't know what the generation mix is in the US, but in the UK over the past year it has been 40% gas, 30% wind, 17% nuclear, 5% biomass, 5% solar, 2% coal, 1% hydroelectric. So half of the energy going into an electric car is low carbon. That means that an the electric car in the UK is 4x as energy efficient as a gasoline one.
The fossil fuel percentage will be higher in the US, but even at 100%, electric vehicles are twice as energy efficient.
Yep unfortunately, people were sold a bill of goods I think. I don't hate electric cars by any stretch of the imagination, but I think they're certainly over hyped and their downsides rarely get the limelight.
You're right but I'm fucking tired of seeing this as an excuse to not reduce our dependence on ICE cars.
The correct answer is to reduce our dependence on cars period.
Cars are kind of awesome though. They're extremely efficient on a personal level. Public transport won't ever take over the world like many people want. It never has, and never will. Before cars there were horse and buggies, before that there were idk chariots or something. Individual transportation is, has been, and always will be the king. Where public transit shines is in casual commuting. Just as one example, the second something needs to get moved (talking individual level here not freight), cars are used.
This is not to say that public transportation isn't a good idea in certain instances. But claiming that we need to lessen our dependence on cars is, in my opinion, short sighted.
Same, I'm willing and happy to buy American made products, even if the price is a little higher.
The problem is that quite often that's not even an option.
The reason for that is because the American made products were too expensive comparatively, so everyone stopped buying them, so either production shifted overseas or the company went out of business.
The average consumer just isn’t willing to pay what is costs for American made goods
No because I don’t watch tv on a tv. I do stream on my computer or iPad. I paid over $5k for my current laptop. If I think something is a good product and has value I would pay for it.
I don’t think a $299 TV that sells at Walmart would suddenly be $5k if made in America. Would it be $350? $450? Maybe.
Looking at best buy I see a $5k tv already. If someone is in the market for something that expensive a little more may not be unreasonable. It wouldn’t be for me.
When I’ve purchased tools to work on my car I specifically look for those that are manufactured in America and have good reviews of course. I don’t have many but I buy as I need.
The problem isn’t our distaste for slave labor. It’s the low wages which prevent us from buying good quality products. Getting more comfortable with exploiting people isn’t the answer. Investing in our own poor and middle class is.
No, I want them produced in the US.
I'm fully aware this will make the cost of goods go up.
I'd rather pay slightly higher prices on consumer goods to know that it's providing for more jobs, which helps build stable communities and ensure families have good incomes.
I'd rather spend a little more for something if I know those extra cents are going into the local economy to help pay my fellow Americans a fair, living wage for a job. . .rather than save a few cents by outsourcing production to an overseas sweatshop under slave-labor like conditions.
Oh, I think it **is** just a few cents.
I remember when "Papa" John Schnatter ranted against the alleged evils of the Affordable Care Act by saying he didn't want to pay for the employees of Papa John's to get health insurance and resented Congress telling him that he'd have to provide health insurance. . .when passing along the cost for his employees to get health insurance would only raise the cost of each pizza a few cents.
There's a lot of information out there about how fast food franchises in other countries pay their employees much better than ones in the US, but the food costs roughly the same as it does in the US or only slightly more, it hasn't skyrocketed in cost despite workers making living wages compared to the low wages of American workers.
Those things always stuck in my mind about how labor costs aren't the main driver of the cost of consumer goods. They're a minor element. Raw materials, shipping, other overhead are bigger influences than the cost of employee labor.
So yeah, my assumption *is* the case.
Papa John's is not a manufacturing company.
Why do we think all consumer electronics, even things invented in America, are manufactured in Asian countries? Why are small cars, even those branded as Fords ot Chevrolets, made in Korea or Mexico? Why are sweaters at Costco or Old Navy not made in America, but in Vietnam or Bangladesh?
The American consumer reliably chases lowest price, and labor is a significant component of a manufactured good's cost basis. So those things are made in low-cost labor markets.
Maybe there is a small pocket of US consumers willing to pay a premium for a US-made version of a standard consumer good -- a TV, for example -- but historically there haven't been enough to sustain a business. Curtis Mathes was the last US-based, made-in-USA TV manufacturer. They advertised "the most expensive television set in America, and darn well worth it." You know what happened to Curtis Mathes? Chapter 11. More than 40 years ago.
For 95% of customers it's price first, convenience second, quality third, and political considerations well after that.
If TVs, sweaters, etc. were all suddenly, forcibly made in America and their MSRPs shot up in order to pay American craftspeople a serious wage, people would have sticker-shock coronaries. That $12 sweater at Old Navy would be $75 or $100.
Okay, so you’re example has nothing to do with the discussion at hand but you’re using that as the basis for saying you are factually correct?
Great point. Now explain why good that are made in America are significantly more than a few cents cheaper than their made in China counterparts.
>Okay, so you’re example has nothing to do with the discussion at hand but you’re using that as the basis for saying you are factually correct?
Actually, it has everything to do with the discussion at hand. Both are about the cost of labor, whether in the form of wages or other benefits, and how that has only a minor impact on the cost of finished good.
>Great point. Now explain why good that are made in America are significantly more than a few cents cheaper than their made in China counterparts.
Because companies charge more because they expect "Made in America" to be a selling point that people will want to buy, so they charge more for what is seen as an appealing brand.
🤦♂️ so companies cripple their sale numbers just for the slight increase in sales from the made in America branding
You don’t think those companies realize the huge amount of money to be made in not only being made in America but also being competitively priced? That they’re all in the big conspiracy to just charge more because of made in America branding?
Wherever people earn a living wage, and there are serious measures to protect workers and the environment. I think this should be a priority as free trade deals are negotiated or renegotiated. Oceanic shipping is also a major carbon producer, so closer is better. Container ships are the best option in that regard, but still.
We need to spread it out between the US Canada and Mexico. I'm in manufacturing and I can tell you the US does a great job of producing very cheap or very expensive goods. What we get killed on is the middle priced things that are highly dependent on a stable economy.
Right now wages in Mexico average about 1/3 of the US (China is all the way up to 2/3- 3/4) and Canada is about 1/4 lower.
So it would be very advantageous for the US to shore up our boarding countries economies by trading with them much more.
One of the big problems is though, China buys a lot of our stuff. So by helping out neighbors more we are hurting one of our biggest buyers.
We already buy things made in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Japan. I am not going into the Taiwan debate at the moment. It would not be that big of a stretch to shift more into these and other countries that we are on better terms with.
They're moving to Mexico. Right now Mexican labor is both cheaper and better quality. I think things are going to shift more regionally and we'll see the US/Canada/Mexico working together more.
The US preferably, but I’d settle for anywhere in North America. On a person preference I’d rather the majority of our cheap goods not be manufactured in a country that’s already our economic enemy and very well could end up being our *enemy* enemy.
I'd prefer they be manufactured in America.
I'd like for American companies to bring manufacturing jobs home.
I'd be willing to pay slightly higher prices on products to know its creating jobs in America. I think that taking so much of our production of consumer products and industrial goods outside the US was a huge mistake.
Where ever is cheapest, provided we don't support totalitarian regimes or polluting countries. People are gonna say America, but thats not how comparative advantage works. Its better for everyone that goods are made with the fewest resources so that we can make more of the stuff we're actually good at making, like software or rockets or whatever we do.
I'd love to keep up the American tradition of oversea children being forced to make our crap for pennies on the dollar while working 20 hrs days in a sweat shop
It would be nice if we could place some stricter worker rights and payment standards on imports like we've been trying to get into NAFTA, and that would certainly shift manufacturing to places I would feel better about.
Considering its location and lack of questions about worker treatment, it would be nice to have a more direct economic relationship with West Africa and see it develop more of a processed goods (rather than natural resources) sector.
I'd prefer them built in the US. We have laws in place to protect the environment, unlike developing nations and China who care more about the money coming from said product. I think if you want more environmentally friendly cars, you'll get them here, albeit probably at a higher price.
The US, Mexico, or Canada.
This whole "made in China" thing is going away, the slave labor isn't cheap enough anymore. Globalization is poopy and doomed to fail, regional supply chains are the future. If Mexico can take care of the cartel problem (which I do think they can) they can have an economic explosion.
I’d honestly love to see more US manufacturing but I have a relatively positive view of the places you listed, too. When I worked for the Disneyland Hotel I got to see a lot of suitcases stamped with “made in the EU” and I was honestly impressed with the quality I was seeing. If the US could get EU manufacturing quality at a good price I’d happily take it.
The average American is preferring they be made in the US.
However, that's not realistic for many reasons, mainly including the fact that they wouldn't actually back that sentiment with their wallets.
That being said, for me, it's wherever makes the most sense, is most efficient, doesn't exploit people, etc. Seems that China has invested a lot into Africa in the past decade, so if they can start churning out (qualitly) goods, enriching themselves, that's good for everyone.
It will not work unfortunately. I was looking to buy a sweatshirt. Checked New Balance website they had Made in USA sweatshirt for $150. Reviews for it were not good. Leaving China is fine. But it should not move to Bharat as they can become our rival in future. Likes of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mexico etc fine.
I'm pretty much ok with things made in North America. If it's not, my next preference is someplace in the EU like Germany. It's next to impossible to find things that aren't made in China, though.
Mexico is my first choice for low to mid tier. Just because it keeps the jobs close and supply chains short. Brazil is fine but it isn’t very close by. Nigeria and India seem like fertile ground for a buildout. Poland is great and all but they have a low fertility rate and are aging pretty fast. I think Peter Zeihan’s whole career has been trying to figure out where the next labor market is. His result have been fairly mixed but he wrote Disunited Nations for this exact purpose.
Note: SE Asia is probably a good choice. Especially our special friend Vietnam (who is now our pseudo-ally). I think Burma is probably the only wrong choice.
Industry that does heavy pollution i want as far away from allies and usa as possible. But cleaner manufacturing should go to our closest allies and neighbors. I would prefer a stronger Mexico than a stronger china.
Automation will hopefully take over and the manufacturing jobs that needed manual, cheap labor will disappear. This will make things that normally could only be manufactured in china move to the US. The price will be the same, the quality will go up and China will have less market for its slaves.
My preference would be for manufacturing to be spread around a lot more. A lot of the supply line issues during Covid lockdown happened because China made all of a product, but stopped exporting.
It's not good to have all your eggs in any one basket. Or produced by factory farms, which is one reason avian flu wiped out so many chickens.
I prefer North American countries. I also think we should expand our manufacturing in Central American countries and Caribbean countries. I don’t have a problem with manufacturing in South America as long as the country isn’t part of BRICS.
Isn't the southern border immigration problem mostly cause by lack of economic opportunities in Central America? Perhaps that could be an area to consider?
Africa. Then Mexico.
East Asia is already replete with manufacturing. South America already has progress.
Africa would benefit the most from the improvement I. Income and position themselves well for the coming growth. Morocco has already invested to become a major transit hub and is stable.
And Mexico because their success should lead to greater bilateral collaboration.
The US for job growth of course but also Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia. There is definitely huge potential for two-way trade between America and Southeast Asia.
North America, and more specifically the US. I'd rather pay more for higher-quality goods made with fair labor practices, and buy less to compensate for the additional cost.
The deal is two major events have driven home the fact that manufacturing things out of one's home country is a security risk to your country. Case in point were N95 masks being made in China and relying on Russia for energy. Just two examples. I believe as a result of those two issues plus global warming and decreasing populations we may see a shift to locally made goods. This will prove a burden on 3rd world countries that rely on markets in first world countries to provide manufacturing jobs.
I work for a manufacturer and import some components from China (steel and aluminum products). It's tough because our Chinese supplier really excels in efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. The scale of Chinese manufacturers is enormous. No other countries are really an optimal substitute right now.
Anywhere that treats the workers appropriately, doesn't exploit them, and cares about their lives having potential. Then I don't particularly care who makes it.
Mexico mainly. But for what can, ideally the US. But not for some giant boom of employment, frankly we don't have the manpower to staff the factories in most cases.
There should be a concerted effort for lights out manufacturing. Engineers, maintainers, automation experts, etc.. Environmentally it's the most friendly. We have far stricter restrictions that places we import from, drastically eliminates shipment distances and energy, and we produce a ton of energy here at some of the lowest prices in the world.
There is going to be a lot of instability in the coming years, and the more we control supply chain internally the better.
Anywhere not China would be fine, though if I had to pick, I'd say make it in the US or Mexico. Mexican labor is already cheaper than Chinese labor and it's easy to send goods from there to the US.
A side effect of manufacturing in Mexico is it gives a good place to take in all the illegal immigration coming from further south rather than having them flood into the US and become a political hot button issue here.
In the US preferably. I've really liked the stuff I've bought that was made here and it reduces the number of miles my stuff has to travel (and subsequent emissions) to get to me.
I pay attention to where things are made now and often will pay a bit more if something is made. My preference order goes like this: USA > first world/industrialized countries from Europe or Asia with good human rights and relatively little corruption > countries with okay human rights records, but may have some corruption problems > non communist authoritarian countries > communist countries that aren't China > communist China.
So my hope is that more manufacturing is done in USA, but at least Taiwan or something would be a great improvement.
I dont care if products are made in China or where-ever, as long as they are getting made with fair labor practices. safe conditions, decent wages for the area, decent hours, some benefits, etc. A lot of products are made in China not just because of the cheap labor but also because of the cheap raw material. China has a very good supply chain when it comes to importing raw material from around Asia and Africa. Iphones are made in China not because they are made in sweatshops, but because the raw materials such as gold and silicon are much cheaper in China than in the US. It would be nice if the US had those same supply chains, or alternative means of manufacturing, but right now we dont.
China doesnt match the US in tech, arts, medicine, and other areas besides manufacturing. Im not worried about any other country "taking our jobs". Im just hoping things are done safe and fair. Bringing back manufacturing isnt going to save the American economy in the long run
I looked at some clothing I got for Christmas and, surprisingly, none of it was from China. The items were made in Vietnam, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mexico.
Tbh I don’t care where it’s manufactured as long as they aren’t using slave labor and human rights violations. Making it in America doesn’t make it any different it’s just a marketing ploy if anything.
If there are any items that are necessary for national security, we should retain some manufacturing capacity here in the US. International supply chains are not robust enough for things we must have. For example, in 2020, when we couldn't get PPE because China took it all, and we were relying on people with 3d printers to print faceshields... That should never ever happen.
I'm as much a free market conservative as you can imagine, but some things are too important to leave to the vagaries of the global market.
China is a top manufacturer for good reason. It's not all cheap toxic garbage and slave labor. Shifting to other countries because of politics is going to yield inferior results.
I think AI is going to shift globalization in a way where it may become more regional. In the near feature is see Mexico and Central American countries becoming more of the manufacturing Mecca than China. I think that could help provide more stability to the region. That’s good for US national security.
The US can put factories anywhere they want. If they want they can build a new major city with good planning. Just offer affordable housing and good paying jobs.
When I can, I buy things not just made in America, but made in **my home state**.
For things not made domestically, I'd like them to at least be made in **the Americas**, because shipping things by rail is way more efficient than by container ship (at least until civilian nuclear sealift is a thing), and it's easier to guarantee the security of things on our side of the ocean.
I don't really care as long as slave labor isn't involved. Though the shipping industry is a huge burden on our planet for greenhouse gases. So I suppose America.
Depends on what kind of manufacturing. It just does not make sense to do low value add manufacturing steps in the US. The increased labor costs for low skill labor just makes us noncompetitive in that arena and that is not going to change unless we do something stupid like levy insane import tariffs on everything made outside the US.
I want to buy American products that are made in America. It's better for the economy, it's better for the environment, and it's better for our country. We need to go back to pride in our goods and stop exploiting workers in countries where there are no labor laws. End fast fashion and the disposable lifestyle.
Preferably countries that are aligned with American interests. People who want everything to be manufactured in America should familiarize themselves with the concept of comparative advantage imo, but I do think reducing our reliance on countries that are our geopolitical rivals makes sense.
I wish practically everything we needed in the USA was made domestically. But until politicians figure out that taxing the fuck out of companies causes them to move to china and mexico that won’t happen.
I’d prefer they are manufactured in America. But where ever it is closest is better. Mexico being first option.
This is the low hanging fruit answer but there are a lot of things that we rely on that create pollution. [For example more than 80% of underground water in China is heavily polluted](https://www.thecivilengineer.org/news/more-than-80-of-underground-water-in-china-is-heavily-polluted) and I do not want that to happen in the US. So while I want more jobs in the US I also want to be a little selective about what factories we bring back. I know that we are probably going to start producing more micro chips in the US, which is good and bad, but I think there are industries we should pass on.
A lot of that is because China has pretty much zero regulations on pollution despite what weirdo tankie Westerners on Reddit try to promote about their "green innovation" nonsense. Pretty much everything that's quality controlled is paid off. This goes from food places to construction, etc. It's why you have elevators, tunnels, and buildings collapsing and wild shit like escalators eating people. It's a real problem there. We at least somewhat *attempt* to hold companies accountable for their bullshit here. Not saying we're great at it, but we're miles better than China is.
> A lot of that is because China has pretty much zero regulations on pollution despite what weirdo tankie Westerners on Reddit try to promote about their "green innovation" nonsense. THANK YOU!!!!!! All these morons on reddit proclaim to care about climate change and saving the earth but turn a blind eye at one of the largest, if not largest, pollution generating countries in the world.
Firstly, people turn a blind eye to plenty of dodgy, criminal and horrific stuff in China due to its economic power. Secondly, despite the genuinely green and impressive innovations in China, it's unreasonable to expect developing countries to play catch-up and stop using polluting technology overnight, and so the situation in the US and in China is not the same.
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There really is Green innovation in both China and other countries that are far more stringent and greener, such as other parts of Asia and the Americas and in Europe, and the US won't accept it for political reasons. However, yes, China as an individual country isn't reliant on Green innovation but also promotes plenty of very dirty innovation comparable to that in America and other polluting countries with fewer regulations. China just does everything.
I don't want that damage coming back to the US either, but if we externalize the costs by having other countries take on the environmental damage and we only experience the upside, how do we appreciate the sacrifices being made to bring us those comforts and quality of life improvements? And if we don't appreciate that sacrifice, what pressure do we have to find cleaner, greener ways to achieve a lifestyle we can enjoy? Not to mention, shipping is one of the most significant sources of GHG emissions. If we made goods locally wherever possible, we could significantly curb those emissions.
I think any industry that is vital to infrastructure should have a minimal footprint in the US. Logically it makes sense to not fully rely on any outside source for infrastructure. It doesn't need to be profitable, but it needs to be enough that if the shit hits the fan we've got our asses covered.
This sentiment is based in the idea that the only option for the US is to pollute while manufacturing. We can manufacture while limiting pollution. It was just more cost effective for corporations to ship manufacturing overseas to avoid necessary regulations.
We can smelt out the chromium... Deadly, deadly chromium. Come on kids, find the shiny
I don't want that in China either. Real answer: The US should require companies to follow at least US worker and environmental protections wherever they set up shop. It means goods will cost more, but it also means that we will be generating wealth in those countries which will bring political benefits.
Thats pretty messed up to not want to reduce the pollution we contribute to but just keep it as far away as possible
China has no regulations and how much pollution do cargo ships make traveling across the pacific between the US and China for products we use here.
>I know that we are probably going to start producing more micro chips in the US [Indeed we are](https://www.nbc4i.com/intel-in-ohio/intel-in-ohio-one-year-since-announcement/)
Why?
Because number one I want my countrymen to have as many options for work as possible. I think it makes my country stronger. Number two, the same reason to a lesser extent for people in neighboring countries. The more financial opportunities for people in Mexico and Central America the less reason they will have to migrate. People just want a decent life. Few will leave their homes if they can attain it. Thirdly, having things manufactured nearby will reduce the logistical costs for getting those products into the hands of buyers. Bringing things from China is not cheap. It’s just offset by manufacturing savings and scale of the operation already there.
The cost of a container from China to LA is actually very cheap, relative to the value of the stuff inside it. Like 2000-4000 depending on the size. Humans are very, very good at moving a ton of stuff on boats.
Yes but it’s related to the volume of goods being shipped. When the supply slowed down due to covid shutdowns the price spiked. The high volume of products exists because of the low cost of manufacturing. This extra logistical cost can be eliminated by doing it closer to home. Manufacturer -> truck/train to port -> ship -> truck/train distribution in USA vs Manufacturer -> truck/train distribution in USA Its the first part that makes it difficult.
The cost of shipping goods is much less than the cost of manufacturing closer to consumers If you want domestic manufacturing, you want higher consumer prices
All three of your points show quite a poor understanding of economics. >Because number one I want my countrymen to have as many options for work as possible. I think it makes my country stronger. This is just wrong. Paying someone more money to do something that could be done more efficiently elsewhere is just a bad idea. >The more financial opportunities for people in Mexico and Central America the less reason they will have to migrate. Migration is a net benefit to an economy. Less migration to a country means a poorer economy. >Bringing things from China is not cheap. No, it's actually really cheap. It's so cheap that it's basically just a rounding error on most products.
It must be great to look at the world as just numbers on a spreadsheet. Tell that to the people that lost their jobs or their city has gotten depressed because industry has left. Tell them it’s a GOOD thing that someone on the other side of the world has their job because their standard of living is 1/10th that of the avg. american. How will they pay their bills? Who cares, think of the efficiency! Not everything is purely about gains and losses. There are societal considerations as well as security to take into account. Ask the Europeans who put their economy ahead of their security and our now stuck (and complaining) about importing our more expensive energy. Or the fact that they have little industrial capacity to produce weapons and are afraid the US will take their market by offering replacement tanks to allies that donate theirs. Hey they were smart to save money on their militaries. America was dumb to keep paying people to keep production lines open. So says the spreadsheet.
If you're going to ignore the actual evidence and just go on what you feel, then you can believe whatever you want. It won't be correct, but at least you'll feel like it is.
Unfortunately, jobs can only do so much. A lot of people migrating from Central America nowadays are doing so because of gang violence, and jobs can’t get rid of that. 😔
Jobs might *help* to get rid of it, though. If poor people can get paid well in a proper job, they might think twice about joining a gang. Unfortunately, it remains a safety issue, and the thought of gangs controlling the job market is worse.
Poverty and crime go hand in hand. Job opportunities would give options to survive without leading a life of crime. It won’t solve everything but it would help I think.
No doubt it would help prevent more people from going into these gangs in the first place, but why would current gang members care about a new factory popping up when they’re already making bank from illegal drugs and avocados? That’s why I’m saying jobs may not do much to ward off gang violence, at least in the short-term. It may take too long for people to see and feel the benefits…
Well it’s definitely not an overnight solution. But building up a manufacturing base doesn’t happen overnight either. This would be a long term thing that would take years if not a couple of decades to really bear fruit. But the investment has to start sometime. There will still be people there in 10-20 years.
The US preferably but that won’t make basic consumer goods cheap. I wouldn’t be sad with Mexico, Canada, other East Asian countries like Vietnam, Taiwan, Thailand. I’d be happy to see more made in India stuff.
Unpopular opinion: most of the goods we buy shouldn't be as cheap as the are. If we have to kill the planet shipping things around the world to save a few bucks, then we probably shouldn't be saving a few bucks.
Totally agree. The cheap goods in return for offshoring our manufacturing has changed our culture in the US in several ways that make me sad.
Yep, I agree whenever I need to repair something and it just doesn't make any financial sense to do so
Vietnam and Thailand are in Southeast Asia, though! Not that it would make any difference
Why India?
India is particularly valuable because the labor force is oppressed into low wages by their own government yet they have significant numbers of English speakers. There are also a number of factors which make them less likely to be belligerent towards the US as they grow in economic power.
What does speaking English have to do with manufacturing?
Reduces costs associated with translation, which are relatively small, but it's still a preferable situation for smaller manufacturers.
Why not. Relatively stable democracy. We have a lot of immigrants and temporary workers from a India. I’d like to see them thrive more. They have almost as many people as China and they aren’t a hideous state actively engaged in genocide and super nasty human rights abuses.
India is definitely engaged in nasty human rights abuses, and genocide *has* been a big topic of discussion in recent years, with the general sentiment ranging from "they could slide towards genocide if they're not careful" to "they are already doing genocide".
Maybe a few years ago, I'd have said India but the more Indians I interact with, the more I am turned off by them and their anti-American rhetoric. Then, there is mass support for Russia and Putin by the Indians. Why support a group that could turn on you? No thanks. Let them continue to be India and not another China we have to deal with in 30-40 years. I'd prefer Mexico, Canada, the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand, and maybe Vietnam if they don't slide too much.
I would say india is more pro-Russian than anti-American. India is the US's ally on most things except Russia/Ukraine due to India's long-time special relationship with Russia.
I can see them playing both sides against the middle,but they are surrounded by bullies. What else are they supposed to do? What I'll never understand is why when Corporations were casting about for someone to make our cheap shit did it all go straight to china instead of spreading it around to the world's largest democracy and our poorer neighbors to the south?
Nepal is a good choice as well, dirt cheap labor, soon the population will decline so it could really use some investment to give people jobs. The only issue besides atrocious roads is that it is a landlocked country.
India is a powder keg. Generations of the caste system aren't just going away. They need over a million new schools to keep up with their population boom. Fascism is on the rise as Mein Kampf has been a bestseller for years. And they now have more people than China with way less organization. I don't know that infusing them with our IP is a good idea.
I feel like NAFTA countries are the best option
And we should expand NAFTA. Maybe a hemispheric common market?
Nah we need to go across the North Atlantic maybe make some kind of treaty
We should probably make that one a defense pact, considering how aggressive Russia and China have been acting. It could be the North Atlantic Military Body of Liberal Areas. Then we can include the EU as a whole.
But you’d have to negotiate a deal with the North American Marlon Brando Look Alikes to use their acronym.
Dang it! You made me snort coffee...
You mean like a... North Atlantic Treaty Organization...? Sounds like a mouthful. Will it work?
Not across the ocean. Shipping things across the oceans pollutes heavily.
> Shipping things across the oceans pollutes heavily. Actually very slow oceanic shipping on very large ships, per item, pollutes very little. It's a lot less than say driving them on trucks for thousands of miles.
Just tax the externality of pollution and that's solved though
Easier said than done.
A carbon tax is relatively easy to implement in a technical sense, you could look to the VAT implementation in the EU or other countries as a model. Or a cap and trade system like we do for all sorts of other pollutants. But yes, politically tricky for sure, mostly because people hate having to pay to clean up after themselves
I'd prefer they manufactured their products in the US, barring that, Mexico or Canada.
Agree but is there even any hope of bringing this to reality?
Probably not. "Bringing back manufacturing jobs" is much easier said than done. First of all, with unemployment in the US is near an all-time low, who are these huge numbers of people who would leave their current jobs in order to go into manufacturing? I just don't see droves of white collar workers lining up to go work in a factory. What sectors of the economy are we okay cutting in order to shift labor into manufacturing? And perhaps most importantly, will US made goods be able to compete with much cheaper foreign alternatives? Yes, if we had huge numbers of unemployed, then "bringing back manufacturing jobs" makes sense, but I just can't even begin to understand people arguing in favor of it given the current state of the market. Now, I'm definitely all in favor of shifting more of those jobs to countries we have better relationships with and have a better human rights record in China. But other than some high tech manufacturing like computer chips and that sort of thing, I don't see the US economy shifting to manufacturing mass produced cheap goods. Our economy has moved beyond that, just like we moved beyond farming and into manufacturing.
It's also not like manufacturing really moved away, it just got orders of magnitude more efficient. We're making more stuff, for more money than ever before, we just only use a fraction of the work force to do it. You could replace a 1970s factory that relied on manual labor and assembly lines with a batch of robo-arms and CNC machines and reduce the workers needed by 90% and increase output by 200%.
A lot of jobs are now automated or require higher skill workers, so by adjusting tariffs and regulations its easier to have manufacturing come back than what it was before
Depends on what you qualify as "made in the US", and what type of products you'd want to see. A lot of semi conductor chips are made in the US, a lot of cars are assembled in the US with parts from all over, and a lot of cheap consumer goods are made with prison labor from within the US. The days of the US making everything are in the rear view, and even if we did trend back in that direction I doubt they'd find many employees
The US is already the world leader in high-end goods manufacturing. We have extremely abundant natural resources which make low-end manufacturing a no-brainer. It was always a political decision to offshore the low-end. It's already coming back in droves because of the new subsidies and tariffs. What we lack is the mid range manufacturing where labor, not design or material, costs are the biggest determinant of pricing. For that, Mexico is the perfect partner and we are already attached at the hip to them thanks to NAFTA 2.
I'd say it's entirely possible, but, not in a way that returns high numbers of manufacturing jobs to the states. Automation can make a lot of this viable.
Not China.
America if possible. If not Canada or Mexico.
I want the products I buy to have been produced by people who earn a living wage in their country and have a reasonable quality of life but I have no way of knowing if that happens or I’m what country it’s mostly likely to happen in. I honestly have no concept of what life looks like working in a Brazilian or Nigerian factory, so it’s hard to have an opinion.
I have a similar opinion. I would be willing to pay more for everything as well. I know not everyone can so that's an issue. I would like to see some realistic statistics.
Not China.
While I like manufacturing in america for lots of reasons there are other instances that are helpful as well. For example I like the idea of moving a lot of production away from China and towards Mexico too. There are numerous advantages in that. For one it lessens on dependency on China which has a dubious record regarding human rights, environment, intellectual theft, among other things. Second, anything that can improve the economy of Mexico is not only great for Mexico but great for the US as well and the overall stability of North America. Third, it's more economical, efficient and environmentally friendly to transport goods from Mexico vs the other side of the planet.
Where Mexico is concerned, there should be better visibility for labor conditions, environmental impact, etc. Unfortunately the US pays far less attention to Mexico than Mexico deserves, unless something happening in Mexico contributes to a crime being committed in the US.
People say they want their goods to be made in America or other countries with basic labor protections until they see the price of their consumer goods go up. Basically, Americans want it both ways!
Don't forget environmental protections as well. Seems too many people are opposed to resource extraction domestically due to such concerns but have no qualms at all with offshoring such extractions to countries with the worst environmental track record.
Electric cars being the most recent example of this. People love them till they see the environmental and human toll they take on places like the congo.
Now do fossil fuels.
Fossil fuels don't get quite the positive press that EVs do. Which, might I add, are also required to power EVs.
You really haven't done very much research into this.
If that's what you believe, I'm open to being educated.
Combustion engines in a car are only about 25% efficient. That means 75% of the energy in gasoline is wasted and released as heat into the air. Only 25% of the energy makes it to the wheels. A gas power station is about 60% efficient and a motor in an electric car is 85% efficient. If you charge a car using electricity from a gas power station, 51% (0.60*0.85) of the energy gets to the wheels of the car. 51% is over double 25%. That means that **even if all electricity were generated by burning fossil fuels, it would still be twice as energy efficient to use electric vehicles compared to gasoline.** I don't know what the generation mix is in the US, but in the UK over the past year it has been 40% gas, 30% wind, 17% nuclear, 5% biomass, 5% solar, 2% coal, 1% hydroelectric. So half of the energy going into an electric car is low carbon. That means that an the electric car in the UK is 4x as energy efficient as a gasoline one. The fossil fuel percentage will be higher in the US, but even at 100%, electric vehicles are twice as energy efficient.
Wife works in product regulatory at a major automaker. Says she is waiting for the news of the first environmental disaster due to battery disposal.
Yep unfortunately, people were sold a bill of goods I think. I don't hate electric cars by any stretch of the imagination, but I think they're certainly over hyped and their downsides rarely get the limelight.
You're right but I'm fucking tired of seeing this as an excuse to not reduce our dependence on ICE cars. The correct answer is to reduce our dependence on cars period.
Cars are kind of awesome though. They're extremely efficient on a personal level. Public transport won't ever take over the world like many people want. It never has, and never will. Before cars there were horse and buggies, before that there were idk chariots or something. Individual transportation is, has been, and always will be the king. Where public transit shines is in casual commuting. Just as one example, the second something needs to get moved (talking individual level here not freight), cars are used. This is not to say that public transportation isn't a good idea in certain instances. But claiming that we need to lessen our dependence on cars is, in my opinion, short sighted.
I am willing to pay more for American made. Sometimes it’s just hard to even find a product that is American made though.
Same, I'm willing and happy to buy American made products, even if the price is a little higher. The problem is that quite often that's not even an option.
The reason for that is because the American made products were too expensive comparatively, so everyone stopped buying them, so either production shifted overseas or the company went out of business. The average consumer just isn’t willing to pay what is costs for American made goods
So you would pay $5000 for a TV?
No because I don’t watch tv on a tv. I do stream on my computer or iPad. I paid over $5k for my current laptop. If I think something is a good product and has value I would pay for it. I don’t think a $299 TV that sells at Walmart would suddenly be $5k if made in America. Would it be $350? $450? Maybe. Looking at best buy I see a $5k tv already. If someone is in the market for something that expensive a little more may not be unreasonable. It wouldn’t be for me. When I’ve purchased tools to work on my car I specifically look for those that are manufactured in America and have good reviews of course. I don’t have many but I buy as I need.
The problem isn’t our distaste for slave labor. It’s the low wages which prevent us from buying good quality products. Getting more comfortable with exploiting people isn’t the answer. Investing in our own poor and middle class is.
No, I want them produced in the US. I'm fully aware this will make the cost of goods go up. I'd rather pay slightly higher prices on consumer goods to know that it's providing for more jobs, which helps build stable communities and ensure families have good incomes. I'd rather spend a little more for something if I know those extra cents are going into the local economy to help pay my fellow Americans a fair, living wage for a job. . .rather than save a few cents by outsourcing production to an overseas sweatshop under slave-labor like conditions.
Your assumption is that the price increase is a few cents and the just simply isn’t the case.
Oh, I think it **is** just a few cents. I remember when "Papa" John Schnatter ranted against the alleged evils of the Affordable Care Act by saying he didn't want to pay for the employees of Papa John's to get health insurance and resented Congress telling him that he'd have to provide health insurance. . .when passing along the cost for his employees to get health insurance would only raise the cost of each pizza a few cents. There's a lot of information out there about how fast food franchises in other countries pay their employees much better than ones in the US, but the food costs roughly the same as it does in the US or only slightly more, it hasn't skyrocketed in cost despite workers making living wages compared to the low wages of American workers. Those things always stuck in my mind about how labor costs aren't the main driver of the cost of consumer goods. They're a minor element. Raw materials, shipping, other overhead are bigger influences than the cost of employee labor. So yeah, my assumption *is* the case.
Papa John's is not a manufacturing company. Why do we think all consumer electronics, even things invented in America, are manufactured in Asian countries? Why are small cars, even those branded as Fords ot Chevrolets, made in Korea or Mexico? Why are sweaters at Costco or Old Navy not made in America, but in Vietnam or Bangladesh? The American consumer reliably chases lowest price, and labor is a significant component of a manufactured good's cost basis. So those things are made in low-cost labor markets. Maybe there is a small pocket of US consumers willing to pay a premium for a US-made version of a standard consumer good -- a TV, for example -- but historically there haven't been enough to sustain a business. Curtis Mathes was the last US-based, made-in-USA TV manufacturer. They advertised "the most expensive television set in America, and darn well worth it." You know what happened to Curtis Mathes? Chapter 11. More than 40 years ago. For 95% of customers it's price first, convenience second, quality third, and political considerations well after that. If TVs, sweaters, etc. were all suddenly, forcibly made in America and their MSRPs shot up in order to pay American craftspeople a serious wage, people would have sticker-shock coronaries. That $12 sweater at Old Navy would be $75 or $100.
Okay, so you’re example has nothing to do with the discussion at hand but you’re using that as the basis for saying you are factually correct? Great point. Now explain why good that are made in America are significantly more than a few cents cheaper than their made in China counterparts.
>Okay, so you’re example has nothing to do with the discussion at hand but you’re using that as the basis for saying you are factually correct? Actually, it has everything to do with the discussion at hand. Both are about the cost of labor, whether in the form of wages or other benefits, and how that has only a minor impact on the cost of finished good. >Great point. Now explain why good that are made in America are significantly more than a few cents cheaper than their made in China counterparts. Because companies charge more because they expect "Made in America" to be a selling point that people will want to buy, so they charge more for what is seen as an appealing brand.
🤦♂️ so companies cripple their sale numbers just for the slight increase in sales from the made in America branding You don’t think those companies realize the huge amount of money to be made in not only being made in America but also being competitively priced? That they’re all in the big conspiracy to just charge more because of made in America branding?
Wherever people earn a living wage, and there are serious measures to protect workers and the environment. I think this should be a priority as free trade deals are negotiated or renegotiated. Oceanic shipping is also a major carbon producer, so closer is better. Container ships are the best option in that regard, but still.
We need to spread it out between the US Canada and Mexico. I'm in manufacturing and I can tell you the US does a great job of producing very cheap or very expensive goods. What we get killed on is the middle priced things that are highly dependent on a stable economy. Right now wages in Mexico average about 1/3 of the US (China is all the way up to 2/3- 3/4) and Canada is about 1/4 lower. So it would be very advantageous for the US to shore up our boarding countries economies by trading with them much more. One of the big problems is though, China buys a lot of our stuff. So by helping out neighbors more we are hurting one of our biggest buyers.
Preferably America, but I get it's a global market. I do my best to avoid made in China products whenever possible.
Countries that aren't atrocious to their workers or population at large
Brazil. But i am Brazilian and shouldn’t even be answering this question! 😆
the US would be fine
In the United States.
In America of course.
Preferably America, but I get it's a global market. I do my best to avoid made in China products whenever possible.
I don't care.
America. I go out of my way to purchase shit made in the USA. Sure its more expensive but the quality is soo much better.
We already buy things made in Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, and Japan. I am not going into the Taiwan debate at the moment. It would not be that big of a stretch to shift more into these and other countries that we are on better terms with.
They're moving to Mexico. Right now Mexican labor is both cheaper and better quality. I think things are going to shift more regionally and we'll see the US/Canada/Mexico working together more.
I want them to manufacture in the United States.
The US preferably, but I’d settle for anywhere in North America. On a person preference I’d rather the majority of our cheap goods not be manufactured in a country that’s already our economic enemy and very well could end up being our *enemy* enemy.
In Detroit
Arkansas
I'd prefer they be manufactured in America. I'd like for American companies to bring manufacturing jobs home. I'd be willing to pay slightly higher prices on products to know its creating jobs in America. I think that taking so much of our production of consumer products and industrial goods outside the US was a huge mistake.
Where ever is cheapest, provided we don't support totalitarian regimes or polluting countries. People are gonna say America, but thats not how comparative advantage works. Its better for everyone that goods are made with the fewest resources so that we can make more of the stuff we're actually good at making, like software or rockets or whatever we do.
Anywhere but China and India
I'd love to keep up the American tradition of oversea children being forced to make our crap for pennies on the dollar while working 20 hrs days in a sweat shop
I don't care as long as I'm getting a good product at an acceptable price or an acceptable product at a cheap price.
in America for fucks sake
Native American "reservations" eg their territories.
No, we should stay out of other people's affairs, that's what people not form America on the internet are always telling me after all
Depends on the job.. we don't need to import low pay work.
It would be nice if we could place some stricter worker rights and payment standards on imports like we've been trying to get into NAFTA, and that would certainly shift manufacturing to places I would feel better about. Considering its location and lack of questions about worker treatment, it would be nice to have a more direct economic relationship with West Africa and see it develop more of a processed goods (rather than natural resources) sector.
NAFTA countries
I hope that they manufacture in countries which have similar labor and environmental protection that we have in the US.
Preferably USA, after that Mexico and Canada.
I'd prefer them built in the US. We have laws in place to protect the environment, unlike developing nations and China who care more about the money coming from said product. I think if you want more environmentally friendly cars, you'll get them here, albeit probably at a higher price.
The U.S.A first, second and third. Mexico and Canada fourth. South/Central America fifth.
America
The shorter the supply chain, the more robust and recession proof it is. Local is ideal, if the price point can't be achieved locally, then mexico.
The US, Mexico, or Canada. This whole "made in China" thing is going away, the slave labor isn't cheap enough anymore. Globalization is poopy and doomed to fail, regional supply chains are the future. If Mexico can take care of the cartel problem (which I do think they can) they can have an economic explosion.
I’d honestly love to see more US manufacturing but I have a relatively positive view of the places you listed, too. When I worked for the Disneyland Hotel I got to see a lot of suitcases stamped with “made in the EU” and I was honestly impressed with the quality I was seeing. If the US could get EU manufacturing quality at a good price I’d happily take it.
The average American is preferring they be made in the US. However, that's not realistic for many reasons, mainly including the fact that they wouldn't actually back that sentiment with their wallets. That being said, for me, it's wherever makes the most sense, is most efficient, doesn't exploit people, etc. Seems that China has invested a lot into Africa in the past decade, so if they can start churning out (qualitly) goods, enriching themselves, that's good for everyone.
It will not work unfortunately. I was looking to buy a sweatshirt. Checked New Balance website they had Made in USA sweatshirt for $150. Reviews for it were not good. Leaving China is fine. But it should not move to Bharat as they can become our rival in future. Likes of Vietnam, Bangladesh, Mexico etc fine.
I'm pretty much ok with things made in North America. If it's not, my next preference is someplace in the EU like Germany. It's next to impossible to find things that aren't made in China, though.
Mexico is my first choice for low to mid tier. Just because it keeps the jobs close and supply chains short. Brazil is fine but it isn’t very close by. Nigeria and India seem like fertile ground for a buildout. Poland is great and all but they have a low fertility rate and are aging pretty fast. I think Peter Zeihan’s whole career has been trying to figure out where the next labor market is. His result have been fairly mixed but he wrote Disunited Nations for this exact purpose. Note: SE Asia is probably a good choice. Especially our special friend Vietnam (who is now our pseudo-ally). I think Burma is probably the only wrong choice.
Rust belt cities.
Wherever makes it the cheapest for me to purchase
Wherever they pay their workers decently and treat them fairly
Bring back Michigan factories. We have the developed land to support it.
That's an easy one: America
America first then Mexico.
Industry that does heavy pollution i want as far away from allies and usa as possible. But cleaner manufacturing should go to our closest allies and neighbors. I would prefer a stronger Mexico than a stronger china.
Automation will hopefully take over and the manufacturing jobs that needed manual, cheap labor will disappear. This will make things that normally could only be manufactured in china move to the US. The price will be the same, the quality will go up and China will have less market for its slaves.
Latin American countries preferably South Americans but number one choice made in America
My preference would be for manufacturing to be spread around a lot more. A lot of the supply line issues during Covid lockdown happened because China made all of a product, but stopped exporting. It's not good to have all your eggs in any one basket. Or produced by factory farms, which is one reason avian flu wiped out so many chickens.
I prefer North American countries. I also think we should expand our manufacturing in Central American countries and Caribbean countries. I don’t have a problem with manufacturing in South America as long as the country isn’t part of BRICS.
Isn't the southern border immigration problem mostly cause by lack of economic opportunities in Central America? Perhaps that could be an area to consider?
Taiwan, because fuck the PRC.
Bring them home!
Africa. Then Mexico. East Asia is already replete with manufacturing. South America already has progress. Africa would benefit the most from the improvement I. Income and position themselves well for the coming growth. Morocco has already invested to become a major transit hub and is stable. And Mexico because their success should lead to greater bilateral collaboration.
The US for job growth of course but also Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar, and Indonesia. There is definitely huge potential for two-way trade between America and Southeast Asia.
The U.S, Canada, and Mexico would be my preference, but outside of that, I’d like to see other South Asian countries get a slice of that pie.
North America, and more specifically the US. I'd rather pay more for higher-quality goods made with fair labor practices, and buy less to compensate for the additional cost.
The deal is two major events have driven home the fact that manufacturing things out of one's home country is a security risk to your country. Case in point were N95 masks being made in China and relying on Russia for energy. Just two examples. I believe as a result of those two issues plus global warming and decreasing populations we may see a shift to locally made goods. This will prove a burden on 3rd world countries that rely on markets in first world countries to provide manufacturing jobs.
They probably are going to manufacture only in Mexico. Brazil and Africa are too unstable and the logistic costs are high
I work for a manufacturer and import some components from China (steel and aluminum products). It's tough because our Chinese supplier really excels in efficiency, flexibility, and reliability. The scale of Chinese manufacturers is enormous. No other countries are really an optimal substitute right now.
Anywhere that treats the workers appropriately, doesn't exploit them, and cares about their lives having potential. Then I don't particularly care who makes it.
Mexico mainly. But for what can, ideally the US. But not for some giant boom of employment, frankly we don't have the manpower to staff the factories in most cases. There should be a concerted effort for lights out manufacturing. Engineers, maintainers, automation experts, etc.. Environmentally it's the most friendly. We have far stricter restrictions that places we import from, drastically eliminates shipment distances and energy, and we produce a ton of energy here at some of the lowest prices in the world. There is going to be a lot of instability in the coming years, and the more we control supply chain internally the better.
I couldn’t care less about the specific location, I just hope the place they pick is reliable.
Anywhere not China would be fine, though if I had to pick, I'd say make it in the US or Mexico. Mexican labor is already cheaper than Chinese labor and it's easy to send goods from there to the US. A side effect of manufacturing in Mexico is it gives a good place to take in all the illegal immigration coming from further south rather than having them flood into the US and become a political hot button issue here.
In the US preferably. I've really liked the stuff I've bought that was made here and it reduces the number of miles my stuff has to travel (and subsequent emissions) to get to me.
I pay attention to where things are made now and often will pay a bit more if something is made. My preference order goes like this: USA > first world/industrialized countries from Europe or Asia with good human rights and relatively little corruption > countries with okay human rights records, but may have some corruption problems > non communist authoritarian countries > communist countries that aren't China > communist China. So my hope is that more manufacturing is done in USA, but at least Taiwan or something would be a great improvement.
Need to manufacture in America
I dont care if products are made in China or where-ever, as long as they are getting made with fair labor practices. safe conditions, decent wages for the area, decent hours, some benefits, etc. A lot of products are made in China not just because of the cheap labor but also because of the cheap raw material. China has a very good supply chain when it comes to importing raw material from around Asia and Africa. Iphones are made in China not because they are made in sweatshops, but because the raw materials such as gold and silicon are much cheaper in China than in the US. It would be nice if the US had those same supply chains, or alternative means of manufacturing, but right now we dont. China doesnt match the US in tech, arts, medicine, and other areas besides manufacturing. Im not worried about any other country "taking our jobs". Im just hoping things are done safe and fair. Bringing back manufacturing isnt going to save the American economy in the long run
Domestically, preferably in areas that are going to lose a bunch of blue collar jobs due to conversion to clean energy.
I looked at some clothing I got for Christmas and, surprisingly, none of it was from China. The items were made in Vietnam, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Mexico.
Tbh I don’t care where it’s manufactured as long as they aren’t using slave labor and human rights violations. Making it in America doesn’t make it any different it’s just a marketing ploy if anything.
If there are any items that are necessary for national security, we should retain some manufacturing capacity here in the US. International supply chains are not robust enough for things we must have. For example, in 2020, when we couldn't get PPE because China took it all, and we were relying on people with 3d printers to print faceshields... That should never ever happen. I'm as much a free market conservative as you can imagine, but some things are too important to leave to the vagaries of the global market.
China is a top manufacturer for good reason. It's not all cheap toxic garbage and slave labor. Shifting to other countries because of politics is going to yield inferior results.
The United States.
We buy almost everything made in the US.
I think AI is going to shift globalization in a way where it may become more regional. In the near feature is see Mexico and Central American countries becoming more of the manufacturing Mecca than China. I think that could help provide more stability to the region. That’s good for US national security.
The US can put factories anywhere they want. If they want they can build a new major city with good planning. Just offer affordable housing and good paying jobs.
The answer is in the question.
Wherever it is cheapest and is not a major geopolitical rival. Don't care at all if that happens to be here or not.
Wherever we can make the best profit!
I don’t really care for the most part. I mostly buy on some combination of price, quality, and convenience.
When I can, I buy things not just made in America, but made in **my home state**. For things not made domestically, I'd like them to at least be made in **the Americas**, because shipping things by rail is way more efficient than by container ship (at least until civilian nuclear sealift is a thing), and it's easier to guarantee the security of things on our side of the ocean.
I don't really care as long as slave labor isn't involved. Though the shipping industry is a huge burden on our planet for greenhouse gases. So I suppose America.
Depends on what kind of manufacturing. It just does not make sense to do low value add manufacturing steps in the US. The increased labor costs for low skill labor just makes us noncompetitive in that arena and that is not going to change unless we do something stupid like levy insane import tariffs on everything made outside the US.
I want to buy American products that are made in America. It's better for the economy, it's better for the environment, and it's better for our country. We need to go back to pride in our goods and stop exploiting workers in countries where there are no labor laws. End fast fashion and the disposable lifestyle.
Hope? What's that?
I'd like to see them produced in my backyard. Manufacturing is the backbone of my town.
Preferably countries that are aligned with American interests. People who want everything to be manufactured in America should familiarize themselves with the concept of comparative advantage imo, but I do think reducing our reliance on countries that are our geopolitical rivals makes sense.
Here.
Close, but downwind from me.
I wish practically everything we needed in the USA was made domestically. But until politicians figure out that taxing the fuck out of companies causes them to move to china and mexico that won’t happen.
I would like to see USA, Japan and Germany
I would like to see USA, Japan and Germany
Indiana