That is the point. US should be focus on high end, technological innovative manufacturing. This is why the whole tariff thing is so stupid, because it isn't aiming that.
Low end, low value added products/ manufacturing should be left for developing countries and they can use these to develop their own economy.
In China, 67% of secondary school students enrolled into University, in which 41% of all university graduate student are in STEM field. In United States, post secondary enrolment rate is only 39%, and only 20% are in STEM field. This is why you shouldn't be surprised that China will eventually overtake United States in STEM field.
When it comes to manufacturing it needs to be diversified across all manufacturing.
Otherwise we are assembling not manufacturing.
You need the low end manufacturing to produce the items needed for the high end. Walmart, using them as an example, makes billions selling low end “stuff”. Perhaps the manufacturer’s profit levels are that of the small amount of high end products, but the low end manufacturing is creating jobs which in turn creates spending and feeding the economy.
The education system in the US is broken. Higher education has become a business vs a learning institution.
The product they produce is a reflection of the widgets they receive from the k-12 system.
I’m not bashing Starbucks workers but they probably have the most educated workforce of any restaurant company. Im sure there are some STEM graduates that work there but a lot less than those with degrees in arts and humanity
studies.
I work in a high tech company and whether it’s DEI, preferential hiring or whatever, the Smiths and Johnson are few and far between. Why, because the US is more concerned about other things outside of academia studies and preparing our children and who they are hiring is a reflection of who’s available in the candidate pool.
When I was in high school and college I had jobs in manufacturing building main frame computers. Everything was made in house, slowly but surely the shipping department head count dropped significantly. Then the circuit board group disappeared, the the sheet metal workers, then the cable division. They went from 12 buildings to 10, to 8, to 5, then 2, then sold.
I worked for a solar panel company. Cost per watt was within 6¢ of a Chinese panel. That equated to less than $15 per panel.
Well the Chinese artificially drove down the cost of their panels to increase the cost separation per watt to over 50¢ which equated to more than $60 per panel. The Chinese government will subsidize an industry until other countries can no longer viably manufacture/produce it.
That is why you need manufacturing at every level of complexity.
