Even if the US has lost its manufacturing capability and this leads to a worse quality more expensive product, it's worth it. Do we want to go down the path of not being able to produce anything and outsourcing all our products until we have no talent? Where will that leave us in a generation?
I recommend reading Crouching Tiger about US China relationships. Manufacturing and sustainability is very important to war fighting capability past day X (where X is when our current inventory is attrited). So this is something those seeking our security will want regardless.
The last thing to mention is about comparisons with countries which do not have the same labor laws / pollution laws. Yes, given the same assumptions they will make stuff cheaper. They don't have the same regulations. This is one reason why tariffs to help offset this imbalance (minus shipping across a gigantic ocean) are necessary - regardless of political views. Either the US has the same regulations as the competitor or they offset the difference somehow (I get it that our current tariffs are much more than that, I'm simply mentioning tariffs in general).
I recommend reading Crouching Tiger about US China relationships. Manufacturing and sustainability is very important to war fighting capability past day X (where X is when our current inventory is attrited). So this is something those seeking our security will want regardless.
The last thing to mention is about comparisons with countries which do not have the same labor laws / pollution laws. Yes, given the same assumptions they will make stuff cheaper. They don't have the same regulations. This is one reason why tariffs to help offset this imbalance (minus shipping across a gigantic ocean) are necessary - regardless of political views. Either the US has the same regulations as the competitor or they offset the difference somehow (I get it that our current tariffs are much more than that, I'm simply mentioning tariffs in general).