Could the United States start creating factories in response to Coronavirus?

[oil_dude]

The answer is YES.

[The Sons of Liberty]

Could the United States start creating factories in response to Coronavirus?

It certainly highlights Supply Chain vulnerabilities and the downside of Just In Time (JIT) inventory management, but as soon as the crisis passes, it'll be forgotten and on the the next thing.

I believe Rush Limbaugh put forth the theory that the left is exaggerating things to scuttle the economy and sink President Trump, and there could very well be a lot of truth in that.

[trebb]

I mentioned the other day that we should be able to leverage the shortages being created by China’s corruption and poor handling of this in order to bring even more manufacturing jobs back here...China is supplied with materials for manufacturing antibiotics and they control over 90% of the finished product...not to mention all the electronics/automobile and other parts that are assembled there.

[ridesthemiles]

Unions are non factor. Only 7% of the work force is in a union. 7% and falling....”””

Which is exactly why Bernie, Warren & Steyer are running on ALL JOBS IN THE USA SHOULD NE UNION JOBS. ALL. No exceptions.

The massive Dem donations have dried up with the falling union membership.

[central_va]

Neither party gives a rats ass about workers, union or otherwise.

[yldstrk]

Do it!

[richardskeet]

Great idea.

[ncpatriot]

I like that idea NOW

[Ozark Tom]

Not hospitals—holding pens. Enforced isolation wards.

[Fury]

Chinks

Really? You take a good comment and diminish it with bigotry.

[Lazamataz]

This is a reasonable response that would boost America’s fortunes and the fortunes of President Trump.

[9YearLurker]

My guess is that’s the sort of thing his team is looking at, while not wanting to call attention to it.

The idea was to keep us from panicking, but if he starts to get beat up for inaction, like W and Katrina, I imagine they’ll be more forthcoming about what they are doing—and hopefully do more of it.

That we have barely tested anyone for it, and expressly not anyone by which we could establish community transmission, is not a good look for us at all.

[Svartalfiar]

I mentioned the other day that we should be able to leverage the shortages being created by China’s corruption and poor handling of this in order to bring even more manufacturing jobs back here...China is supplied with materials for manufacturing antibiotics and they control over 90% of the finished product...not to mention all the electronics/automobile and other parts that are assembled there.

That's not really going to be very likely. Even with a complete collapse from China. I read an article on here a while ago that several manufacturers were actually beginning to move some production out of China, due to costs rising, and were starting to look at other places like the Philippines, Malaysia, Africa, etc. What China did to us, other even poorer countries have started doing to them.

Say China disappeared tomorrow. Sure, supply chains would hurt, but they would be pretty quickly taken over by other third-world manufacturing countries. Not much of that would be coming back to these US. Even full automation / robotic production on simple products; the land costs, taxes, regulations, inspections, insurance, etc just aren't profitable for many supplier chains.

So unless you have inflated prices on government guaranteed purchase, made-in-USA contracts, or large tariffs on every country for certain cheap items, there's no way (certain) production can come back here. I don't like it, But I don't see any way we can become competitive as a country in the cheap goods segment.

[mdmathis6]

The globalists are running out of cheap places to manufacture and if supply chains keep getting ruptured, the governments of the homelands in which the globalists have their headquarters will enact restraints. The most simple requirement will be for a company to be able to ramp up domestic production(meaning keeping tools and manufacturing lines in ready storage) should their foreign producers be disrupted. This would be for goods deemed vital to the domestic stability of a given nation. It would also be wise for any company to maintain their aces in the hole should a foreign nation act like a dick and attempt to nationalize the company’s foreign operations in that country. I hope lessons are being learned by the globalist sociopaths; I’m sure they too, don’t like to lose money.

[Svartalfiar]

The globalists are running out of cheap places to manufacture and if supply chains keep getting ruptured, the governments of the homelands in which the globalists have their headquarters will enact restraints. The most simple requirement will be for a company to be able to ramp up domestic production(meaning keeping tools and manufacturing lines in ready storage) should their foreign producers be disrupted.

I wish it was that easy. How do companies keep a domestic line in 'ready storage'? Are they expected to keep large amounts of property/buildings that they don't use at all? Warehouses that could be sold to other companies that want to produce here, who can then provide jobs that the empty space otherwise wouldn't have any of? How much production capacity would they need to have ready to turn on? 100% of current? 50%? 10%? How do they account for storage damages (stuff doesn't just start back up after sitting for decades)? What about revisions/upgrades to products? How do those apply to storage production facilities? What about discontinued products? Do those need to still have tooling?

And finally, what about knowledge/workers? If China disappears, how are these companies gonna have the people ready to go to just start producing? it'll take time to train management, to train trainers, to then try to find people to work, who have to be trained. Which, in any situation this is needed, every other foreign manufacturer will be doing the same thing. Not gonna happen very easily, if it'll work at all.

I'm not specifically trying to be contrarian, but the practicalities of such a thing make this process not very feasible, I think.

[trebb]

Thanks for that astute insight.