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China

(drewdevault.com)
847 points kick | 2 comments | | HN request time: 1.15s | source
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ridaj ◴[] No.21585833[source]
I stopped reading here:

> $155B worth of electronics, which we already have domestic manufacturing capabilities for [4]

The citation here is to the effect that the manufacturing technology is already present in the US. This does not at all translate to the capability to produce these goods, in at least three respects:

* Capacity of production (an industry manufacturing billions of goods requires at least new plants to be built)

* Logistics network (transportation, special zones with enough industry concentration to generate economies of scale)

* Skilled and experienced labor. Take whatever item you can think of, the people who have been in the manufacturing business for that specific item for over a decade have skill and experience above and beyond the mere technological capability to produce.

All of these things would translate at least to higher production costs (regardless of thoughts on currency exchange), market shrinkage from lower affordability, and potentially shortages as well.

The real economy is not as easy as software - you can't just install a new OS and run, it takes decades to transform industries at this scale.

replies(1): >>21587409 #
1. djokkataja ◴[] No.21587409[source]
Sure, it would cost the US to make a point to China that they find some of China's policies unacceptable in a trading partner, but it would also cost China - that's the point.
replies(1): >>21590113 #
2. ridaj ◴[] No.21590113[source]
I am concerned with this statement appearing to make a misleading minimization of the cost on the US side, as if it was a simple matter of turning around to a different seller.