The problem is that many or most are no longer made in the USA or are tooled to do so, and due to over-regulation, overhead and higher wages, cannot be made here for anything close to what Chinese products cost even with 25% tariffs.
And China also has lower production costs and more advanced production capabilities than other developing manufacturing industries.
In jut one city, Shenzhen, China, , you can get almost anything made in the city, and which is considered the epicenter of manufacturing in Asia due to the growing hub of highly accessible manufacturers and service providers. - https://www.sourcify.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-manufacturing-in-china/
“The White House keeps asking why we can’t do what Huawei does, and how long it would take for us to be able to do so,” said one US telecoms executive. “They don’t seem to understand — we gave that capability up a long time ago.”
Huawei is the world’s biggest telecoms equipment maker, with a 28 per cent market share — according to Dell’Oro, the market research company — and more 5G contracts around the world than any other company. Its closest rivals are Ericsson and Nokia, the European companies. But there is no US group that can build the equipment to transfer signals between mobile phones and the towers or sites that make up the network. " - https://www.ft.com/content/18d3823a-65f2-11e9-9adc-98bf1d35a056
Explore all $506 billion in goods that the US imported from China in 2017 By David YanofskyMarch 22, 2018
For all the hints of a new cold war with China, Kennedy said, U.S. warfighting capabilities are to a large extent in the hands of the one country that has come to be seen by U.S. national security officials as a peer competitor and a strategic rival. “Rare earths are actually a hegemonic trigger. If the United States gets into a conflict, China is supplying the majority of the upscale weapons,” he said. “China can determine the outcome of the conflict, and that could result in a hegemonic shift.” - https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/06/11/how-china-could-shut-down-americas-defenses-rare-earth/
Now if just one state on either ocean could secede, and did away with minimum wages and the over regulation that liberal control practices, and could lower property taxes etc, then its could begin to provide a real alternative to made in China products, but China has a massive head start. And the US would punish such a state.
I understand what you’re saying, including China cornering control of rare earths. That’s one of the reasons to go to the moon and get us some. (China’s trying to do that already over on the dark side).
You mentioned more expensive electronics and equipment. What is it now? A thousand $$ for an ipad? People at an income level to afford $2,000 Nikes to begin with are still going to buy them. No tears for status seekers here. More expensive farm tractors? Equipment costs are depreciated over 5 years - Uncle Sam allows that deduction, same as higher electric or lease rates are deducted? The taxman absorbs that cost. The tariffs will add $200 to the price of a $35K auto? What’s to get twisted about? The arguments against tariffs are most just strawmen.
Back in 1996, numerous nations signed onto the WTO Agreement (below) that limited tariffs on IT-related products. China was at 30% at the time, importing more than they exported. Now they just steal the technology, which is a sort of huge, silent tariff, and export more than they import. That is, tariffs haven’t hurt China’s economy one wit.
https://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/inftec_e/itaintro_e.htm
Tariffs are not an exclusive item between China and the US. As a purely random example, here’s a rundown on Japan’s latest complaint of India tariffs which are in excess of 20%. Tariffs and economic competition among nations aren’t breaking news. :
At an average 25% increase in price of Chinese product, the consumer is going to look harder at cheaply produced products meant for a throw-away culture. (and that allows me to sneak in a cheeky little strawman that the tariffs are actually environmentally conscious). There are over a hundred countries that buy almost no American or Chinese product but they still manage to chug along and produce some of the exact same products China does. American manufacturing falls into its own trap settling for a single-source producer: a country that subsidizes the income of their entire (slave-labor) manufacturing force, and, heavily subsidizes the shipping costs of those items.
A guy who manufactures pillows and sells them for $60 each can compete successfully in America against $8 Walmart Chinese pillows. We may chose to leave the t-shirt and pajama factories of the past to India or Laos. But advances in automation, technology, and good old American ingenuity and perseverance are now opening doors in literally dozens of developing countries whose citizens are starting to enjoy disposable income for the first time. Hitting back at China’s quest for world market monopoly is actually broading our multi-national trade horizons. And speaking from a sales and growth perspective, that’s a very good thing for America.