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Comment by sieabahlpark | Hacker News Reader

Damn, thanks for plainly stating why we need manufacturing back to the states.

Not gonna happen. On the 1% chance we have a fair election next time around and Dems get elected, they will be too busy cleaning up the Republican mess, and nobody will notice. Just like what happened under Biden.

China ironically can end US by simply providing easy immigration for qualified tech workers.

> simply providing easy immigration for qualified tech workers.

I dont believe those tech workers would wish to move, unless the political system in china changes to one that is more amenable to democracy; not to mention that having high salaries in the US, it will be impossible to achieve similar levels in china after migration (even if the PPP remains the same!).

Move to a democracy-amenable country that isn’t engaging in a trade with with China.

Err, a trade war. That typo really bungled my comment, haha.

I mean, you are going to see an exodus of tech workers regardless as US economy withers up and other countries (probably in EU) pick up the slack.

China won't even have to have high salaries, all they would need to do is basically set up immigrant neighborhoods that have all the familiar things that US people like, and through the nature of just being around people of similar status, whatever the salary everyone gets paid gets normalized - there isn't anything you would be able to buy to "flex" on your peers, and everyone would be in the same boat.

China isn't interested in immigration. In a relatively liberal and democratic country like the US, immigration is a boon because we don't care all that much about political or economic stability and are used to not having it. In an authoritarian oligarchy like China it's poison because an unstable environment will see the government in trouble quickly when people lose confidence in the party and leadership.

But if China starts importing immigrants, it will be just another shithole. Their quality and success come from their own population. Importing foreigners is just poisoning yourself your culture and future.

Because our so-called "democracy" is working so very well in contrast?

democracy was what decided the trump presidency. It is working. The problem is the voters are pretty dumb, or fell for propaganda.

Democracy isn't meant to give you the best outcome. It gives you, the voter, a way to push the gov't.

The "working" part refers to the fact that its making society better.

So far US has gotten measurably worse, while China has gotten measurably better.

Yes, and I think this is the core motivation behind the Trump messaging - bring it back to the US if possible. In fact, he wants to bring back commercial and maritime ship building back[1]. Pretty cool! Hopefully this will employ lots of people.

[1] https://news.usni.org/2025/03/05/trumps-make-shipbuilding-gr...

Well, no matter what he wants, there's a reason China has 5-10 year plans and not 2 week ones.

This is Chinas greatest strength and their greatest weakness. They can actually commit to policy positions when they're effective, but they also commit to policy positions when they're not effective.

Shame it's being bungled with flip flops for nothing in return. Nor any achievable commitments which business can plan for or count on.

At the same time, he's ripping up the CHIPS act. It's the duality of Trump: he wants to bring manufacturing back, except when he doesn't.

Words and desires are easy. Crafting, marketing and enacting policy to achieve the goals set by your words and desires is difficult. The world is complex and reacts in complex ways, but try to say that to a Trump voter and get called a disconnected elitist.

Talk is cheap, as they say. It's one thing to want something to happen, it's entirely another to actually make it so.

Generally disassembling the machinery of state and starting trade wars is not an effective way to achieve your policy objectives unless your policy objective is economic and social chaos.

Gonna build boats with steel and aluminium tariffs at 50% or more? Good luck with that.

This isn't something you turn around in a few years by adding tariffs, it's a long term strategy that requires high investments and tariffs. Like the chip act, but Biden did that so that cant happen either.

“Back” is in the mid 1800’s, you mean?

Or “back” as in when we built astonishingly expensive liberty ships for a large fraction of our GDP in WW2?

Because since the move to steel ships, there’s never been a time the US has been good at building ships.

Brian Potter goes into great detail on this [0], it’s a great read.

[0] https://www.construction-physics.com/p/why-cant-the-us-build...

see also: his attacks on the "horrible" CHIPS act [0]. If anyone think he's doing anything good for anyone but billionaires, contact me. I've got some trump coin to sell you.

[0] https://www.reuters.com/technology/trump-wants-kill-527-bill...

"Back" as in undermining EV manufacturing? And non-fossil power generation?

"Back" as in massively increasing input costs?

"Back" as in alienating close allies who are a large part of our customer base?

"Back" as in repeatedly disrupting the supply chain by flip-flopping on tariffs without a clear plan?

"Back" as in undermining research across the board?

The current policy will not employ lots of people. It will have lots of people out of work fairly soon, if we continue on the current path. It will diminish our industrial base further, and reset our manufacturing skills to the 80s or earlier. But hey, at least toy manufacturers are hiring, that's a really important industry.

Setting aside any questions about intentions, the effects of the current policies are hugely deleterious.

He is gonna import raw materials from where ? Currently he started trade war with all of his allies ?

Ship building is non existent in this country because of the protectionist jones act. Protectionism backfires every time.

And is the effort to deport as many Mexican skilled tradesmen and manual laborers as possible the part of this grand plan?

The US makes 5 commercial ships per year. China makes 1,700.

https://www.seatrade-maritime.com/containers/us-wakes-up-to-...

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