[Vision Thing]

With 3D printing...who needs the Chinese?

the people who make the 3d printers will need the chinese.

But once 3d printers can make other 3d printers, then we can say sayonara to china.

[Cronos]

Layer by layer building as in 3d manufacture leads to a structural weakness in the 3rd (vertical) dimension and the surface is much rougher than by using other methods. 3D is meant for individual, customized products, not using economies of scale or mass production (which is what China specializes in)

Layer-by-layer helps and doesn't helping, depending on the case. If you are using injection moulding for an item, you have strength evenly distributed across the entire item, but 3D has laminate weaknesses along the Z axis

[Brookhaven]

The Chinese 3D printers will still work cheaper, because our 3D printers will unionize.