US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned China’s leaders that the nation’s manufacturing power is a threat to global economic stability. Next week Washington has a chance to rally more countries to its cause.

Funny how we went from talking about China collapsing economically to all of a sudden being a major economic threat for the US.

https://archive.ph/XKq7L

  • exanime@lemmy.today
    28·
    8 months ago

    I don’t get it? Isn’t cheap labour the reason the USA sent virtually all its manufacturing to China?

    Why complain now?

    • Alsephina@lemmy.mlEnglish
      29·
      8 months ago

      cheap labour

      This isn’t really the case anymore with China’s quickly rising wages and rapid automation.

      People these days have things built in China no longer for cheap labour but because they have entire supply chains — from the most basic materials to the most advanced products — in the country itself with its manufacturing ability higher than the next 9 countries combined.

      That’s the problem the US has: China has not stayed a cheap labour factory (like, say, Africa) and is actually advancing and starting to compete with the US — in some fields already having surpassed them. And this time they can’t sabotage their economy like they did to Japan with the Plaza Accords.

      Perks of having a socialist state.

      • exanime@lemmy.today
        8·
        8 months ago

        And the thing is that the USA could have reinvested some of the profit (when China was cheap) to advance new industries and tech. Instead, they just padded the bank accounts and are now in a position where they are not competitive anymore (“as” competitive)