Until your last paragraph, I'm mostly with you.
I do think domestic manufacturing is important, especially from a security standpoint. if we don't know how to make things, we can run into serious problems long-term. We need to have materials lined up. On those points, Biden and Trump agreed and to some degree had common actions.
Manufacturing jobs vary. Automakers have no problems getting people because they are visible, so OSHA and such make visits. The manufacturing jobs people don’t want are about places like a carbon-tech small factory a friend worked in, where burns were normal and safety gear minimal. They employed maybe 10-20 people and yes, had problems keeping employees. Many companies treat manufacturing with Ford’s attitude - people are flexible cheap robots and when they lose an arm, you get your goons to toss 'em out the back door, to the extent possible by law (for Henry Ford, 0% legal consequences; today, it's harder). As with most things, there's only a “labor shortage” under the pay and conditions some want to pay others, and the awful robotic hiring systems we have now that are excellent at weeding out good candidates, followed by interviews that weed out anyone competent who’s left.
You pointed to the problem yourself. Labor is a small cost of most products now - 10%-20% maybe, for quite a few things. You watch How It's Made and you see ten or twenty automated processes for every human one. Paying people enough to have lines in front of the factory for each job would probably not affect the price as much as the executives’ bonuses or, if you prefer, shortfalls in production because of lack of staff. (The company in Texas that made computer memory, where everyone got the same bonus, had no problem retaining staff!) — I might add that internal analyses by Chrysler showed that higher-paid Canadian employees were in fact cheaper, overall, than Mexican or American staff at the various factories. Canadians had higher productivity and quality rates, and lower scrap. Trenton Engine has traditionally dramatically outperformed Saltillo. Just the way it is.
I agree with having some level of imported goods tax (tariffs), though 25% on our closest ally seems... quite high. 10% seems rather high, too. I think we need to have clever ways, carrot-and-stick, to have key industries here. Autos are made here regardless due to the economics of shipping and the fact that labor is a small part of the cost.
As for American robots, well, robots are a truly global industry. If we want to excel there, we should invest in the universities as we did with computers. Few remember that we are the global leaders in computer software and chip design because the US government invested heavily in university programs to get us there. Since a lot of that was military money, it seems acceptable to Americans and not at all [removed], but that would be the way to get us moving forward on robotics and factory design. China invested heavily in education for both, and they're the world leaders now in factory design and getting there on robotics.
I'd like to see some domestic work on supplanting Taiwan in chip-making, too, there's just one company right now that can make the most sophisticated chip-making machines. We do make the tiny bits and bobs that go onto chips here.
We're trying to do all this in a month or two when it takes years.
