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A comment on U.S. Economy Contracts at 0.3% Rate in First Quarter. Parent comment

Re:U.S. Economy Contracts at 0.3% Rate in First Quarter by giantg2 on Wednesday April 30, 2025 @10:31AM (#43845800)
I saw a study years ago that compared US made vs foreign made products and found that most imports had US made alternatives that were not substantially more expensive. Walmart made a big push to increase their percentage of US sourced products a few years ago. With the increase in automation, the labor costs aren't as much of a differentiator.

I'm not sure this small price difference will continue since I assume a reduction in imports might result in greater demand domestically and those factories might not be able to easily scale to absorb the shift.

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Re:U.S. Economy Contracts at 0.3% Rate in First Quarter by heneryville on Wednesday April 30, 2025 @11:25AM (#43846575)
Survivorship bias. The only US made goods left are those that can compete with foreign production. You cannot use those remaining as evidence that all goods could be US made without significant price increases.
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Re:U.S. Economy Contracts at 0.3% Rate in First Quarter by spwa4 on Wednesday April 30, 2025 @11:13AM (#43846412)
link?
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Re:U.S. Economy Contracts at 0.3% Rate in First Quarter by no_wizard on Wednesday April 30, 2025 @12:40PM (#43847701)
>With the increase in automation, the labor costs aren't as much of a differentiator

and unsurprisingly, the imported goods are the goods that are still heavily reliant on labor cost.

If automation was possible, it would be the preference of any business to use that over human labor, simply for the consistency of output and ability to control cost factors. I do believe this to be the case in most instances.

Thats why car companies have long advocated for tariffs on imported vehicles (and is one tariff we have consistently held for a long time).

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