sundin13 said:
LurkerJ said:
You act as if Trump's failings & lies on China and every issue he campaigned on aren't well-explored by both the mainstream and independent media. Not to mention, you fail to address that one of the most popular counter arguments has always been that bringing manufacturing back is unnecessary, will only lead to higher prices and inflation, which is hilarious taking into account that the current inflation is caused of shortages, disrupted supply chains, and a war that wouldn't have happened if Russia wasn't backed by China. Neither the left or the right is doing anything meaningful to correct this or even make it part of their platforms of empty promises. You also act as if the USA's hypocritical pursuit of self-interest gets enough media attention and outrage, you'd be shocked how many westerners believe their countries are hillier than thou. The USA isn't the only guilty one here, UK, Germany, Australia etc continue to sell arms to the Saudis despite the humanitarian crises Saudi has inflicted on Yemen and human right abuses inside their house, so please don't act act if it's only US MO at this point. |
Bringing manufacturing back into America is far from a cure all for supply chain issues. Look at what happened with the recent formula shortage. Only 2% of formula is imported, yet because of how reliant on a small number of plants the market is, and due to the difficulties in importing formula, the shutdown of one plant can cause a huge shortage. In this case, increased available of non-domestic product was part of the solution to these issues, not the problem. Further, the problems of the current inflationary pressures we are seeing goes far beyond "Goods come from outside the USA", and even if we were to manufacture domestically many of the same problems would be present. This inflation is largely a result of demand outpacing supply. While there would be benefits in the turnaround time of bringing goods to customers, a more concentrated manufacturing ecosystem could make it much more difficult to respond to these fluctuations in this demand. Highly concentrated manufacturing can also make the manufacturing ecosystem overly tied to the economic pressures of a single economy. For example, in the States we are currently seeing low unemployment paired with a multitude of job openings. This could put stress on the manufacturing system by both driving wages up (which contributes to inflation) and making it difficult to fill positions, slowing down manufacturing (which contributes to inflation). Finally, I feel like I have to note that Trump's trade war damaged American manufacturing. |
And even that could have been avoided if the FDA had done its job and continued to inspect the plants during 2020, rather than taking the "can't do my job... Covid" route.
As COVID-19 swept across the U.S. in early 2020, the FDA pulled most of its safety inspectors from the field, skipping thousands of routine plant inspections.
The inspection records reviewed by the AP show gaps as large as 2 1/2 years between FDA's 2019 inspections and when regulators returned to plants owned by the three leading formula manufacturers: Abbott, Reckitt and Gerber.
"The FDA would have had more chances to catch these issues if they'd been inspecting during the pandemic," said Sarah Sorscher, a food safety specialist with the Center for Science in the Public Interest. She acknowledged the difficult trade-off the FDA faced in pulling its inspectors to reduce their exposure to COVID-19. "Certainly there was a price to pay for protecting their workers during that time."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/baby-formula-plants-werent-inspected-covid/