>You need to choose between whether you want sub-$10K EVs and low cost solar panels like in China and India OR strong worker protections in their upstream industries like REE processing. You can only choose one.
With globalism, we got cheap goods and didn't worry about [domestic] worker safety. But, i don't doubt that innovation will happen if we bring stuff back on-shore. There's no motivation to improve processes and innovate if you can just cheaply externalize everything.
Commenters here both want dirt cheap green tech AND workers rights, but it's a choice between one or the other becuase low margins industries are inherently exploitative, because there are no other levers.
Saying improving processes and innovation is just a "deus ex machina", because any sort of automation depends on these upstream components as well.
I agree that bringing industries back on-shore can help spark innovation, but we also need to be realistic. Most REEs (ignore lithium) just don't exist in large quantities in the US, Canada, or the EU, and we simply cannot onshore EVERY industry, because margins are so low that tariffs don't alleviate them either.
You can't compete when manufacturing in China and India are themselves in the midst of transitioning to automation as well, further driving down margins.
We need to be strategic about the industries we target with tariffs AND incentives, but also recognize that vast swathes of low margins low skill manufacturing and resource processing is never returning to the US unless we adopt the same kind of labor whitewashing practices Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea does [0][1]
What I'm saying is the strategy needed to develop manufacturing capacity is heavily industry dependent. There also needs to be an acceptance that we may need to regress certain environmental and labor requirements.
The market dynamics and strategy needed to build e-waste processing capacity is different from that of assembling ICE cars which is different from that to develop fighter jets.
Does it makes sense to spend money rebuilding our capacity to sow clothes again, or does it make more sense to invest in semiconductor packaging? Should we invest in plastics mould injection capacity or plastic fiber manufacturing?
These are very complex questions that require domain experts working with policymakers to define requirements. Aside from the CHIPS and IRA, we haven't actually attempted industrial policy in recent years.
We also need to accept that certain industries will never return to American shores no matter what.
With globalism, we got cheap goods and didn't worry about [domestic] worker safety. But, i don't doubt that innovation will happen if we bring stuff back on-shore. There's no motivation to improve processes and innovate if you can just cheaply externalize everything.