U.S. trade policy toward China under the Trump Administration is heavily focused on addressing the perceived unfairness and competitive disadvantages created by China’s industrial policies, chief among them, Made in China 2025. Here’s your Essential graphic on the policy’s core components.
Export controls are not a new idea. They date back to at least the 14th century when the English tried to keep longbow technology out of the hands of the French during the Hundred Years War. Today, we face a very different world with multiple adversaries, including non-state actors, and no strong consensus on how or when to act.
Made in China 2025 calls for achieving “self-sufficiency” through technology substitution while becoming a “manufacturing superpower” that dominates the global market in critical high-tech industries. That could be a problem for countries that rely on exporting high-tech products or the global supply chain for high-tech components.
China’s cybersecurity law can be used as a form of “backdoor” trade retaliation to hurt U.S. firms in China.
The operator’s manual for the popular entry-level Honda Civic is 601 pages. It doesn’t fit in the glove box; it comes in the form of an electronic document to download, which seems appropriate considering the number of electronic components in the car. High-tech, high-cost, components are lightweight and positioned to move long distances on a just-in-time basis.
Robots are not in every case displacing jobs, but automation is certainly changing the types of jobs available and the skills needed to fill them. Explore this robot map produced by the Brookings Institute to see where the robots are on the move.
U.S. manufacturers will create more than 3 million job openings over the next decade – but two million of these future jobs could go unfilled. “If we’re not able to ensure a skilled workforce and a steady supply of skilled workers for manufacturers in this country, then [companies will] either go out of business or be forced to look elsewhere.” – Gardner Carrick of the Manufacturing Institute