I turn on the tv and read the news these days, and see how strange the times are that we now live in. Everyone is afraid to insult China, because they might not get China's money for endorsements. We have an auto industry at full stop because they cannot get a tiny electronic chip, because China decides that isn't in their best interest. We import most of what we once made here, and are slave to those we once helped up from poverty.

I'm no scientific rocket surgeon, but when I look at the world today, and specifically our nation, through my own myopic viewpoints it seems to me that much of what ails us could be traced back to our own moronic national drive to share our wealth and way of life with the rest of the world. I recall the push to send jobs overseas during several of the administrations as I grew up in the 80's and 90's, for example.

My question, and I'm serious about this, is just as the title of the thread states: is there a way for us to pull back some or all of overseas production that we sent away? Can we put the economic genie back in the bottle? Can we bring some of the product now made in Asian countries for pennies on the dollar back here, and still make them for a price that will make Joe Average in middle America reach past the Chinese made counterpart that's 1/3 the price? Is that economically feasible?

If there's a way to get back most of our national production, what's the secret sauce? I don't think patriotism alone will carry us there, and I don't have suggestions. I do wish for the day when most of our widgetry was made of more sturdy stuff, and lasted a bit longer. I'd personally pay more for products.

So for those with the brain trust that I clearly don't possess, what say ye? Is it a pipe dream?

Yes - pipe dream.
Plenty of people got rich off shoring. And, we really don't punish treason, so there is no incentive to change

Actual treason, not political drivel

Not with everyone buying all their needs from Amazon. Convenience at any cost.

On a consumer level, probably not. We created a monster that we can't defeat because we are addicted.

For things of national security we better try. Start with medicine, follow it by computer chips, then continue down the line. It would be expensive as hell to bribe or punish production to come back home, but it's a pill we need to swallow.

The run-up to build plants and train people to run them would take no less than three years to do, and we'd somehow have to continue to buy things from them for years after taking on such an endeavor. Not sure how we'd get them to sell us what we need for our independence.

Lastly is the question of raw materials such as rare earth minerals which we would never be able to source with out relying on them.

How many people would be willing to not only give up their cheap goods, but also damage our economy for nearly a decade to pull it off?

i do not claim to have the answer and I do not live in the past either. But

A few short months ago many of the policies that had been in place for decades through admins from both parties had been righted and we as a country were headed back into positive territory with a bright future.

Well, we all know that that could not be allowed to be our future. So know we have our future recast by those globalist who have been planning it for decades.

As an optimist I do believe we can have a bright future again. But It is going to be a hard, uphill fight that will take time. So it better start now. Seems like we are getting to rock bottom.

"You can stab it with your steely knife..."

No, you cannot rid yourself of an addiction without pain.

Any serious changes such as returning to an era of things being made here and being able to not only compete but be superior to the global competitors will be painful. There is no way around that fact.

We should also follow the money when considering how all this happened.

Trump had us in the right direct.
We were energy independent, becoming much less dependent on China and all the other countries that were taking advantage of our stupidity.

Going straight from China back to America would be impossible. I don't think our economy could withstand that.

How about gradually doing it?

Why can't we move those businesses to places such as south/central America or even some countries in Africa?

My idea is anywhere but China!

Just a couple of data points to consider:

1) Don't underestimate how poor many people are. A third of Americans have less than $1000 in savings. Half have less than $5000. There's very little room for many people to buy quality.

2) Imported goods continue to increase in quality as overseas factories gain knowledge, experience, and more factories pop up as competition. When an importer has more manufacturers to pick from, the quality increases. Hand tools manufactured in Taiwan and Spain come to mind.

3) Developing countries also have a middle class, and the middle class of developing countries are growing faster than they are here. This will increase demand for their own goods and increase wages for their own population. At some point, a manufacturer in China is going to determine that selling their socket set to a domestic market who can finally afford their own cars to wrench on is more profitable than shipping their cheap stuff overseas.

4) Wages in the US are stagnant in comparison to living costs. In a sense, that means labor is getting cheaper. Transportation and logistics costs are also rising. There might be a point where manufacturing domestically just simply makes economic sense.

5) Toyota, Subaru, BMW, etc. manufacture cars here profitably without issue.

People blame Walmart or Amazon , etc. They are not to blame . If you want a coffee pot or a TV or pretty much any other item , it's going to be made in China regardless of which merchant sells it . They outsource the manufacturing because it's a hell of a lot cheaper . Not hard to figure out . If you can get people in the U.S. to work for $4 / hr and a sack of rice , you'll see things being made here .

quote:

Originally posted by stickman428:
No, you cannot rid yourself of an addiction without pain.

Any serious changes such as returning to an era of things being made here and being able to not only compete but be superior to the global competitors will be painful. There is no way around that fact.

Yup. I've been saying this for years and years. I've also been saying the longer we maintain our current course the more painful it will be.

quote:

Originally posted by smschulz:
Trump had us in the right direct.
We were energy independent, becoming much less dependent on China and all the other countries that were taking advantage of our stupidity.

Yup. Flaws he had, but this he was getting so right.

quote:

Originally posted by selogic:
People blame Walmart or Amazon , etc. They are not to blame.

Entirely correct. These companies didn't force consumers to buy from them at the point of a gun.

The fault is with us, the consumers.

Even here, where "Made in China" is becoming something of an epithet, watch what happens when somebody asks "I need a new <blurfl>. What do we like?" And see how many suggest going to Harbor Freight to save a few bucks. See how many's first response is a URL pointing to a Made in China product on Amazon.

I don't mean to come across as holier than thou. Lord knows I've bought more than my share of Made in China, and sometimes still do. But I'm now trying hard to limit it to when I have little or no other choice. Same way Amazon has become my last resort, rather than my first. Thus, for example, the new air compressor I just ordered is a Rolair. And the reason it beat out its closest competitor, California Air Tools, was Made in America--pure and simple. And I bought it from a local tool store, rather than on-line.

Corporations for the last several decades have become short-sighted. There are many reasons for that, but that doesn't change the fact they have. They're going to do whatever boosts their bottom-line in the near term, with little thought to the longer-term consequences. That means that if things are going to get turned around, we have to make it happen.

No Amazon and no Chinesium

Quality product made in USA only

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
No Amazon and no Chinesium

Quality product made in USA only

Amazon sells USA made products too. Amazon is, by and large, a logistics company and technology platform. They don't pick what people buy, they just deliver it to you.

Reality is that the Chinese can't loose the American market either. They simply need our money that selling all that crap brings in.
We have about .3 billion mouths to feed in the US, they have 1.3 billion.

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
No Amazon and no Chinesium

Quality product made in USA only

Amazon sells USA made products too. Amazon is, by and large, a logistics company and technology platform. They don't pick what people buy, they just deliver it to you.

I could give two shits. I was a member since 1998 until last Christmas. They canceled my account for a small error and if they’re not going to miss a high-value customer like me, I’m not gonna miss them.

I believe they are part of the problem - despite your assurances that they are not. I am more than happy to pay a 20% premium or higher for a local mom and pop store.

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:

quote:

Originally posted by Aeteocles:

quote:

Originally posted by SIGnified:
No Amazon and no Chinesium

Quality product made in USA only

Amazon sells USA made products too. Amazon is, by and large, a logistics company and technology platform. They don't pick what people buy, they just deliver it to you.

I could give two shits. I was a member since 1998 until last Christmas. They canceled my account for a small error and if they’re not going to miss a high-value customer like me, I’m not gonna miss them.

I believe they are part of the problem - despite your assurances that they are not. I am more than happy to pay a 20% premium or higher for a local mom and pop store.

IF I can find it at a local mom & pop, I'll buy it there. My loyalty to 3 bears borders on stupidity, but they use my business, so I frequent theirs. I'll not do the "drive 300 miles to anchorage" BS though, to avoid amazon.

Amazon makes it possible to live outside a city and still exist in business.

It's definitely a struggle. Walmart is competing for the market position, lately I've been purchasing from them and they deliver to my office. I like that. I got a package of nutter butters delivered to my office last week via FedEx, for zero shipping cost. That's modern and amazing.

I avoid chinesium at all costs though. The local hardware store here, sources nearly 80% of their inventory from china. Buying local doesn't work for me there.

Yes, but you'd have to be willing to slash taxes and slash an awful lot of regulatory burden.

Even so, other places will still be able to produce goods cheaper and will compete. Many will still buy these foreign items in an attempt to stretch dollars farther.

Tariffs and other such measures actually harm consumers by artificially raising prices and limiting competition.

It takes some doing, but I avoid anything made in China except for my iphone (and that's because Apple will cover me). Example: Just bought a can opener. Any idea how hard it is to find one made in America? I did it but it took some doing. The way back is to just do it yourself where you can.

Almost everybody has an e-commerce site now - even the smallest of small venders.

They all ship.