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The US does not have the population to produce these items but Central America does.
I don't see why we can't work with central or southern American countries for manufacturing. Lots of low wage and unemployed people especially now with the pandemic. All these chinese good sent here has helped the chinese standard of living but it makes more since to work with countries in our hemisphere. If the job market improves due to this in Central American countries most people will stay there and work instead of leaving and joining a caravan to America. And China loses all that business from us. Seems like a win win.
Trade is a two- way street. The US exports to and imports from China more-so than any other country
.
In terms of Central America, infrastructure is an issue. You need enough private investment. You need enough national investment. You have the drug cartels to deal with.
China has been losing market share to other countries because China cannot compete with cheaper sources labor.
India, Bangladesh and Vietnam have been eating China’s lunch especially in clothing manufacturing.
Central American countries, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala are also increasing sources for clothing manufacturing.
The virus sure accomplished what they wanted it to.
The push to buying more Chinese products was well on the way before the virus.
In general, simple economics dictate that globalization will happen. It's not some "Jewish Conspiracy" as the Trumpists want you to believe, it's just economics.
But Trump's tariffs sure helped it along. His intent was good, I'm sure (not sure), but he doesn't understand macro-economics. Some may argue he's a master of micro-economics, but Macro is what influences the subject at hand, and Trump has been an object failure.
But to be clear, as I said, I don't put most blame on him either. It's just natural economics. What I do blame him and his base for is not seeing the big picture. As we loose cheap, low-wage jobs to other countries, we continue to lead in innovation, services, and the things that move the world forward. Trump made his political career by stoking fears and focusing on a few bad (but true) points, rather than taking time to understand the big picture. The big picture did not benefit him, and his agenda is him, not America.
More and more people are finally starting to see that....
The people who sold out the American worker are greedy employers who exported millions of jobs. These Republican millionaires and billionaires could care less about Americans other than their own elite cohort.
Collective bargaining lifted the US masses onto the lower rungs of the economic class. Private union membership in the US peaked in the 50’s. The cost of wages, benefits including pensions, insurance and taxes is baked into everything. Strikes for the so- called” living wage” were common in the 50’s.
Used to be collars and cuffs were replaced on dress shirts ( back when such attire was common). Socks were darned. Shoes were repaired. Electronics were repaired. As a percentage of income, people spent more on clothing and electronics then than they do today. Who bothers to repair a shirt bought at Kohl’s with coupons for $5.99 or a resale shop for 0.99?
The US standard of living is based in part on goods produced elsewhere for less than they can be in the US.
My local grocer has cans of non- organic vegetables on sale for 12/ $10, this week. Who do you think planted and harvested those crops for cents per bushel, not an hourly, so- called living wage with benefits and payroll taxes?
Trade is a two- way street. The US exports to and imports from China more-so than any other country
.
In terms of Central America, infrastructure is an issue. You need enough private investment. You need enough national investment. You have the drug cartels to deal with.
I agree on all of that. There are obvious reasons drug cartels flourish in Mexico and Central America and not Canada. For many people in Latin America working for the cartel is often the only way you can make a decent living. I know up until recently a NAFTA factory in Nogales, Sonora pays workers about $60 a week. They have to work 6 long days. If its a married couple that is about $500 a month. Enough to barely survive but that is it. So even with those jobs many choose the cartel life or decide to come here. So pay people better and most will chose a stable job over drug running. As far as infrastructure. Interest rates are low. Our fed is throwing around money like candy. Come up with a trade agreement where US companies that move their plants from China to Central America get funding for all of it. Its a long term investment. I am sure the Latin American countries would be all for it. Give companies a tax break. Of course China would retaliate and stop buying some of our exports but that will have to be figured out.
I think we are getting to the point were we are so many generations away from when we actually made things here, that is has been forgotten. People just aren't aware of entire industries that could support a family on one income that were once here, are now helping create a middle class in some low cost country. It's a shame. We all did this to ourselves. Politicians, Corporations, and Consumers are all to blame.
China produces 20% of the world’s manufacturing while the US produces 18%. Given China has more than 1 billion more people than the US, not too shabby.
Industrial robotics and technology substitution means manufacturing is no longer as dependent as it once was on human engagement in the process. Labor intensive production, like clothing manufacturing, are increasingly more likely to be produced in India, Vietnam and Bangladesh than China. Indonesia is next up.
I am sure its not rocket science to build most non electronic consumer items here. Even if electronics assembled here, we dont have the infrastructure to produce the components.
There is manufacturing here, but its specialty industrial type stuff, NOT consumer stuff, except maybe tiny bit of expensive high end stuff. Nobody manufacturing in America is making typical consumer stuff. The only way to be price competitive with China is to automate to the extreme and this wouldnt bring back good paying jobs, just handful more maintenance tech jobs. I am guessing even stuff manufactured here uses foreign metals, etc.
You arent ever going to get back significant number factory assembly line jobs. The only way would be to impose import tariffs to make any imported goods more expensive than they could be produced here. Can we say world wide trade war? Since Congress and POTUS are owned by corporations and 1%rs this just wont happen. Socialism my wrinkly ole butt, we are corporate capitalist whichever mainstream party you pick. And those are headed to monopolies and oligopolies. Notice the big price increases, yet the apologists scream no inflation. No inflation on Chinese tvs but otherwise.... they are liars.
Transportation equipment remains the greatest manufactured export. Despite it all, Boeing has managed to remain the #1 manufacturer of commercial aircraft and China is the largest consumer. Boeing manufacturing jobs depend on continued sales to China.
Cant make a toaster in the US that retails for $19.99 at Walmart and elsewhere without investing in plants to produce cheap toasters and paying those engaged in the process a lBangladesh living wage.
Cant sell a big juicy watermelon for $0.29/ lb in season unless undocumented labor is engaged in planting and harvesting.
Trade is a two- way street. The US exports to and imports from China more-so than any other country
.
In terms of Central America, infrastructure is an issue. You need enough private investment. You need enough national investment. You have the drug cartels to deal with.
China has been losing market share to other countries because China cannot compete with cheaper sources labor.
India, Bangladesh and Vietnam have been eating China’s lunch especially in clothing manufacturing.
Central American countries, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala are also increasing sources for clothing manufacturing.
I don't think that's a negative, China has been trying to get rid of cheap labor actually. They've been trying to bring the poverty level down and educate their society to the next level to over-take America and they will succeed. Because America is falling behind, we are too dependent on immigrants and old farts running the country. Biden winning the POTUS is a great story?
If you go to any big city in China, they are moving at such a rapid pace they solved many problems in weeks that America can't solve in 80 years. They are moving to digital currency faster than any other place. Even the poor uses digital currency.
They don't need to make socks or sneakers anymore, they are making semiconductors, OLED screens, memory chips, processors, lasers, and advance tech. So giving cheap labor away to 3rd world countries is a loss.
America doesn't even have a steel industry anymore because of China. If you want to go to war with China, where we gonna get the steel from?
So many clueless Americans think that it's easy to beat China not when we have almost zero industry left that can make even a toaster.
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