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Re:2022 Letter by mtlmtlmtlmtl on Saturday March 04, 2023 @02:05PM (#35023486)
I wonder what happens when Western megacorps run out of third world to put their factories in.
Re:2022 Letter by throwaway4good on Saturday March 04, 2023 @02:37PM (#35023774)
Foreign companies in China will probably do fine as they live in the real world and not in the wild world of politics and speculation.

https://www.bbc.com/news/business-64563855

US-China trade hits record high despite rising tensions

Trade between the US and China hit a record high last year even as their diplomatic relations deteriorated.

Imports and exports between the two countries totalled $690.6bn (£572.6bn) in 2022, official figures show.

Re:2022 Letter by mtlmtlmtlmtl on Saturday March 04, 2023 @02:45PM (#35023841)
Really not sure what trade relations between the US and China has to do with the very general strategic practice of placing factories in countries with low wages and limited worker rights, in order to cut costs.
Re:2022 Letter by throwaway4good on Saturday March 04, 2023 @02:55PM (#35023909)
China is not the cheapest place in terms of labour costs. Hasn't been for decades.

But my point is that contrary to the rhetorics and the politics, western countries hasn't stopped trading with China, actually the opposite has happened.

Re:2022 Letter by satvikpendem on Saturday March 04, 2023 @02:25PM (#35023669)
That means wages have equalized in every country, which is a good thing. I was talking with someone a few years ago who is from one of these third world countries who lamented that corporations were coming in. I asked them whether they thought the people who worked there would prefer a relatively stable factory job over backbreaking farm work, factory jobs which usually pay more than the average wage of the area anyway in order to entice people to start working there. Free trade is good.
Re:2022 Letter by bryanrasmussen on Saturday March 04, 2023 @03:09PM (#35024029)
>That means wages have equalized in every country, which is a good thing.

maybe climate changes makes lots of hotter countries unlivable.

Re:2022 Letter by mostlysimilar on Saturday March 04, 2023 @02:08PM (#35023520)
Hopefully put them in their home countries.
Re:2022 Letter by twblalock on Saturday March 04, 2023 @05:24PM (#35025083)
Increased investment in automation.

Factory work is not going to come back to the west in a big way. Labor costs would make goods more expensive than customers would be willing to pay.

When there are no more humans willing to do the work for cheap, which will happen when the third world catches up with the first world, everyone (including third-world factories) will pivot to robotics and automation as much as possible.

Re:2022 Letter by tim333 on Sunday March 05, 2023 @09:37AM (#35029923)
Robots.