“an iPhone totally put together and made in this country would cost about $1800”
A bunch of bull. iPhone from China comes at around $6.50 cost so maybe it would cost about $50 to make here. Apple is making plenty money on it, so they can easily afford to employ a few Americans here. Someone has to open factories and businesses here too, not just try to sell us crap.
German companies somehow manage to compete and pay very good wages. Their exports are over a trillion a year and unemployment is extremely low.
What happens if a competitor build it at $6.50 and sell the similar product at a lower price and Apple which build it in the US build it at $50 sell it at a higher price. Apple will lose very quickly. All that money invested in building a factory in the USA will go to waste. Businesses can’t invest like that. They have to find the cheapest place with the lowest cost and plan long term, to give themselves some room to adapt to any changes in the market
“German companies somehow manage to compete and pay very good wages.”
One of the reasons might be that they still enjoy the perception by consumers that ;German made’ = high quality. The US used to enjoy that perception, but this has been eroded over the past couple of decades. Deserved or not, it is a problem. Consumers will pay more for a product that they believe is truly better, but not if they think there are less expensive alternatives that are just as good, or better.
Germany is very "employer friendly". German companies also do not provide healthcare for their employees, the govt. does..........However, an average German employee making over $40k a year will pay upwards of 70% of their gross income in taxes.
42% income tax on incomes over $39k
19% Sales Tax
Employee Health Insurance: 15.5% of employee's gross earnings