Keep in mind we're hand assembling these in Berlin, Germany, and the first batch size was below 1000 units.
I hope you target larger batches and cheaper labor in the US (even to ship it back to EU) , or if you're paranoid about that, there are places that will help you with the assembly part in Mexico or plenty of other countries. I'm hoping a larger funding round on crowdsupply might help you target larger batches (and gauge interest).
The problem with the current price point is, I might get it for myself out of curiosity but I can't really recommend it to others unless they show strong interest in small and portable laptops.
The frame work is more expensive than what the person I responded to said, but it is an example of how it should be. It wont be cheaper though.
I don't really understand what your problem with low wage staff is, I suspect we have a different understand of this. In my view, even having employment at all is a big deal in those regions and matters of local labor law should be dealt with by the local population. Ingesting cash into their country's economy is usually a good thing unless there are ethical concerns like slavery or forced labor which isn't the case here. Western labor laws were dismal at some point as well, child labor was rampant even in the US not even a hundred years ago, I hope other countries make progress at their own pace.
Also, if people would buy repairable stuff it can become the norm; I guess govs are starting to demand it; either the prices go up or they find a way to make it happen ; both are good ; people need to learn to repair stuff instead of 'just get a new one, it costs nothing anyway'.