The poor Indiana workers can choose their poison - be replaced by a Mexican or a robot.
You miss my point.
That 16 million dollar was going to be made in Mexico and those 550 jobs were eliminated regardless of whether the plant was located in Indiana or Mexico.
That high tech plant means 800 jobs stay in the United States , along with the economic activity that supports 50,000 other American jobs.
If that investment was made in Mexico the accumulated productivity due to advanced manufacturing, lower labor costs and lower overhead costs for no EPA, OSHA, FICA, SSI, health care, workers comp + zillions of other government regulations would have destroyed American manufacturing and contributed to the loss of those other 50,000 k jobs carrier helps support int eh US economy.
If the investment were made in China, the effect is even more devastating.
If we force American companies to put their next generation, high tech manufacturing equipment outside of American borders, then then you add the higher productivity to al their other advantages and America is dead and so far behind the power curve it can never catch up.
Simple case of the technologically rich get richer and the technologically poor get poorer.
That's not my understanding.
I think the trade off was lower-cost labor or capital investment to reduce that labor.