> quite a lot of it was made in the US

Assembled in the US might be a better way to put it. Nearly every component is made in China or elsewhere. This already makes less and less financial sense for a wide array of products, from consumer to industrial.

For example, components and assemblies for televisions are made in China (and Korea). They are shipped to Mexico and assembled there into televisions. This is because there's volumetric efficiency in shipping well-packed components for assembly in Mexico. A finished television in a box consumes most of the shipping volume with air. You pay a lot to ship air. If, instead, you can pack components efficiently, you can ship more TV's per container as parts than as finished products.

Are you saying this because you have experience in the industrial power products industry? Or because you're presuming it's the same as how TVs are built?

Because when I worked in the industry, it wasn't. A lot of the components weren't stocked on a shelf, they were made to spec, on demand, and occasionally under the supervision of a customer inspector. It's not at all like assembling a TV.

I am narrowly talking about what I might call the mass elements of the EV transition. The simplest example of this would be chargers. Regardless of where they might be assembled, all components are likely made in China and some in other places. Consumer (home) chargers are likely all fully manufactured in China.

Yes, I did work with high power electronics. However, I do not have any experience in grid-scale electrical components (large transformers, transmission lines, etc.). I would not be surprised to learn that a significant portion of this is sourced from China. This is certainly true of a large percentage of residential, commercial and industrial electrical components. Walk around Home Depot and see how many US made electrical components you can find.

I am not trying to be negative. Sometimes reality just sucks, and ignoring it does not lead to solutions.

Sure, there are certainly a lot of parts made in China, for a lot of things in a lot of product categories. I did work for a short time at a company that made grid scale components and pretty much all of the things they sold were made domestically. I also worked for a few other industrial manufacturing companies, and I noticed a pattern -- things that are too big to fit into a shipping container, or too custom/critical to outsource tended to get made domestically.

> Walk around Home Depot and see how many US made electrical components you can find.

Quite a bit actually, especially compared to other product categories. Breaker boxes and breakers are often made in Mexico. The wiring is mostly made in the US. Much of the conduit, boxes, and fastening hardware is too. More basic switches and receptacles are often US origin, and many with more involved electronics inside will be Chinese. It's probably one of the most US-made aisles in the store.

I know because I've replaced most of the electrical system in my house since I've bought it, and pretty much the only Chinese components are lamps/fixtures, and a couple of USB charger outlets, and some GFCIs. The boxes, romex, service connection, and grounds are all US origin. The breakers are all Mexican. The switches and outlets are all US, and the GFCIs are mixed origin with a few being Chinese.

I mean, I get your point that buying more stuff is good for the Chinese -- but that could apply to just about anything, I don't think there's some conspiracy to do with electrical equipment here.