US can’t overcome manufacturing gap with China | The Strategist
www.aspistrategist.org.au
The United States should not kid itself. It will not recover its manufacturing position from China in any foreseeable future. According to World Bank data, in 2024 the US’s GDP of US$29.2 trillion was 60 ...
  • tal@lemmy.todayEnglish
    2·
    3 days ago

    The US is unlikely to grow labor-intensive manufacturing to match China. However, I suspect that it could overcome the wage difference that makes it more-advantageous to manufacture many things in China.

    • Some kind of radical transformation in manufacturing that drastically reduces labor costs in manufacturing. Maybe advanced AI could wind up doing this.

    • Labor-intensive manufacturing shifting out of China for the same reasons that it once shifted into China — because there are lower-wage countries out there.

      https://www.investopedia.com/manufacturing-already-moved-out-of-china-now-where-will-it-go-11711407

      Many U.S. companies have refocused supply chains to Vietnam, Thailand and other countries in the region, partly because labor costs have risen in China over the decades.

    None of those result in a bunch of US unskilled manufacturing jobs that pay wages competitive with many other jobs, which is why some people in the US want the US to do more manufacturing, but it could result in the share of manufacturing in China relative to the US declining.