They're not going to get it. The political economy of East Asia is simply better suited for advanced manufacturing. The US wants the manufacturing of East Asia without its politics. Sometimes for good reason - being an export economy has its downsides!
Taiwan isn't some backwater island making low skilled items.
USA lost mass manufacturing (screws and rivets and zippers), but now we are losing cream of the crop world class manufacturing (Intel vs TSMC).
If we cannot manufacture then we likely cannot win the next war. That's the politics at play. The last major war between industrialized nations shows that technology and manufacturing was the key to success. Now I don't think USA has to manufacture all by itself, but it needs a reasonable plan to get every critical component in our supply chain.
In WW2, that pretty much all came down to ball bearings. The future is hard to predict but maybe it's chips next time.
Maybe we give up on the cheapest of screws or nails. But we need to hold onto elite status on some item.
> Taiwan isn't some backwater island making low skilled items.
Definitely not! Wasn't trying to imply this.
> If we cannot manufacture then we likely cannot win the next war.
If you think a war is imminent (a big claim!), then our only chance is to partner with specialized allies that set up shop here (e.g. Taiwan, Japan, South Korea). Trying to resurrect Intel's vertically integrated business model to compete with TSMC's contractor model is a mistake, IMO.
I think this is a gross oversimplification and an incorrect assessment of the US’ economic manufacturing capabilities.
The US completely controls critical steps of the chip making process as well as the production of the intellectual property needed to produce competitive chips, and the lithography machines are controlled by a close ally that would abide by US sanctions.
The actual war planes and ships and missiles are of course still built in the USA. Modern warfare with stuff that China makes like drones and batteries only gets you so far. They can’t make a commercially competitive aviation jet engine without US and Western European suppliers.
And the US/NAFTA has a ton of existing manufacturing capability in a lot of the “screws and rivets” categories. For example, there are lots of automotive parts and assembly companies in the US. The industry isn’t as big as it used to be but it’s still significant. The US is the largest manufacturing exporter besides China.
Indeed. Just now our kid's therapist told us they are moving out from current school district because some chemical plant is coming up near by. More than pollution it is the attitude that any kind physical product factory is blight on Disney-fied suburbia and its white collar folks.
