https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W_mSOS1Qts&t=1394s
They also address the question of moving their production to the US.
I of course feel for them as a small business. They took risk and did the numbers and are trying to bring something great to their customers.
One angle I didn’t see covered in response… dropping the quality on the product. If America just isn’t there yet on manufacturing, and people still only want to pay $139 for a computer case… surely someone in America can sell the customer a box of some sort for $139. It might be pretty crap, but there’s already local industry selling trailers and park benches and other things made out of metal. A barebones steel case seems within reach for $139, and they can improve from there.
I never believed that Trump's main goal is to bring everything back to the US. Instead, the government wants a new blend of suppliers that leans more heavily on the US but diversifies inputs to many countries.
This is a worthwhile goal even if China was an US ally. We don't want all eggs in one basket.
USA has neither, apart from maybe slave labour pool they have collected. So they would also need to compete in global markets with those countries also trying to climb up.
The answer is that the time for sub par quality products is coming. Just not American made. If companies cannot import a decent quality box to sell for $139 and instead need to get a "barebones case" costing $70 and then mark it up to $139 to cover for tariffs -- that is what is going to happen. And given that lot of consumer protections like EPA, CFPB, FDA etc are being gutted - there is no going back if the box breaks down within the warranty period and you need or refund. Or worse yet, it contains lead or other harmful chemicals and it is going to be costly to remove those chemicals.
This article they link to is excellent