Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit
Do…people really think that prices will go down when cheap foreign labor is off the table? Do they think we can establish replacement infrastructure at comparable costs in months or a couple of years? Will they want to work those jobs for comparable pay to keep the costs of goods stable?
Cheap foreign labour is good for rich people but bad for poor people that they compete with, at least in the short term.
Probably more like wages will go up when cheap foreign labor is off the table. Higher income offsets higher prices for industries where wages rise. For the currently well paid the purchasing power may drop.

Silicon Valley didn't care about the rust belt, so why should the rust belt care about SV?

The fallacy here is that US industries will even be able to compete with 200% tariffs.

They won't, and they can't, and they certainly can't do it immediately. It takes decades to build up the manufacturing efficiency and processes to compete with China. We lost all of it.

We will continue to buy from China because it will STILL be cheaper. And your goods will be 3x more expensive, and that's the best-case scenario for a lot of goods.

Will the wages increase more than the prices?

Aren't most things Americans buy imported or contain imported parts (for example all electronics)?

Won't a decrease in exports, because of other nations ti-for-tat tariffs, decrease wages for many US workers?

loading story #42062556
High-paying, secure, union manufacturing job are never coming back. New factories are heavily focused on non-union workers and automation.