“What’s the point? China’s specializing on low-priced products anyway. If we’re going to get manufacturing back, we can’t just try to skim a bit of froth.”
Go down the aisles of Walmart and Lowe’s.
There’s a lot of stuff we import that can be made and packaged here by automated machines.
Then there is the huge motor vehicle business. I would have it run on the basis of international financial balance, mainly via internal company barter.
GM might import Mexican wiring harnesses and pay for them with EV batteries made in Michigan.
The cheap stuff you refer to wouldn’t be covered by your first solution.
And I see no reason for “internal barter” in the auto industry specifically.