If your economy has companies performing all steps in the supply chain for making a complex commodity, like cars, you get to extract profit at each step rather than just the last step.
The USA’s economy and geography is large enough to have an almost entirely self sufficient economy.
Except in the case where performing a manufacturing step is too expensive to do domestically because of labor costs. Almost all complex products for sale in america (and the West in general tbh) are only possible at these prices because someone is getting exploited in southeast asia.
Vertically integrated economy.
If your economy has companies performing all steps in the supply chain for making a complex commodity, like cars, you get to extract profit at each step rather than just the last step.
The USA’s economy and geography is large enough to have an almost entirely self sufficient economy.
Except in the case where performing a manufacturing step is too expensive to do domestically because of labor costs. Almost all complex products for sale in america (and the West in general tbh) are only possible at these prices because someone is getting exploited in southeast asia.
This mostly makes sense if you have need for it, costs and quality won’t better automatically. And if demand remains low, there’s little incentive to.
Long term the point is usually to lessen dependency on others, for example to enact war, but Dump isn’t really dependable for anything long term.