• psvrh@lemmy.ca
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    2 months ago

    The first two (labour and quality control) aren’t really what affect the MSRP. Labour makes a difference, but it’ materials cost that really drives price, and QA isn’t really the differentiator you might think.

    But that last one–government support–that makes a massive difference. China has been, and continues to be, very strategic throughout the entire supply chain, from security raw materials at low cost, to building transport and energy infrastructure, to setting up hub-and-spoke centres for OEMs and suppliers, to securing a labour force. Non-Chinese OEMs, and especially Americans that depend on tax rebates little else, can’t compete.

    It wouldn’t hurt the American and Canadian governments to twist the arm of industry and get them to think a little more long-term. They won’t, of course, because of neoliberal capture, but they could.

    • pipsqueak1984@lemmy.caOP
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      2 months ago

      The first two (labour and quality control) aren’t really what affect the MSRP. Labour makes a difference, but it’ materials cost that really drives price, and QA isn’t really the differentiator you might think.

      Uh, what, both of these have a massive affect on final price.

      The fact that labour is so expensive in Canada, the US and Western Europe is a big reason we farm stuff out to cheaper places (like Mexico and China) that don’t have pesky things like high safety standards or employee benefits. I mean, shit, the fact the huge disparity in labour costs between the two countries is reason the TFW program even works. Not to mention that cost of labour is the main reason companies push for automation… it costs a lot less to have a couple guys maintianing robots than 20 guys on an assembly line.

      You are correct in that QA itself is basically nothing on the MRSP but failures can cause the end user a lot of time and money to deal with… not a hassle I personally want and nobody else should either. QA is one of the biggest reasons I never buy any big ticket items made in China.

      Plus there is the fact that buying literally anything Chinese is supporting an oppressive authoritarian regime.