> "Planning to do it" is one thing, but thanks to Trump's erratic and corrupt trade policy, they now have a Manhattan Project-level incentive to make it happen.

The plans weren't wishes, they were things they were actively working on to make happen. The point is they didn't need "Trump's erratic and corrupt trade policy" to motivate it, they were already motivated to do it anyway.

The US's problem is that its actions are uncoordinated. Sanctions and tariffs need to be coupled with massive investments to build new capabilities, and the latter is usually lacking. For instance, tariff revenue (and then some) should be poured directly into subsidies for building new facilities that support critical industries (like rare earths and electronics manufacturing). And things would probably be counterintuitively more effective if there was more tolerance of waste For instance, China's subsidized hundreds of solar panel manufacturers, none of them make money and a lot have probably failed, but the vicious domestic competition has helped them dominate that technology globally. The US freaked out in a massive scandal when one subsidized solar panel maker went out of business.

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CamperBob2 3 days ago | parent [-]

The plans weren't wishes, they were things they were actively working on to make happen. The point is they didn't need "Trump's erratic and corrupt trade policy" to motivate it, they were already motivated to do it anyway.

Yes, they were "actively working on it"; no, they had made little significant progress despite throwing tons of money at the initiative.

There were lots of stories along the lines of https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/19/technology/china-microchi... from the early 2020s, not so many lately. Their internal posture will now be the same as Russia's post-1945 push for the Bomb. Continued failure will (possibly literally) place heads at stake.

The US's problem is that its actions are uncoordinated.

They are coordinated well enough, but with the goal of magnifying Cheeto Benito's personal influence and cultivating his in-group's fortunes.

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palmotea 3 days ago | parent [-]

> Yes, they were "actively working on it"; no, they had made little significant progress despite throwing tons of money at the initiative.

That's how things sometimes go when you're building up a capability. I'm sure they were going to work through the setbacks, regardless.

>> The US's problem is that its actions are uncoordinated.

> They are coordinated well enough, but with the goal of magnifying Cheeto Benito's personal influence and cultivating his in-group's fortunes.

No. That problem is bigger than the Trump administrations, focusing on him is lazy.

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CamperBob2 3 days ago | parent [-]

No. That problem is bigger than the Trump administrations, focusing on him is lazy.

It's absurd to say that without elaborating on how anyone else was "just as bad," which I expect will be a key part of your next reply.

Trump is fucking bad, and if you disagree after all we've seen, you're either arguing in bad faith, or you're not such a great person yourself. He is costing us every jot and tittle of soft power we ever wielded as a nation.

Trump is the living embodiment of the old cliché about how in the Chinese language, the words for "threat" and "opportunity" are similar. His actions have comforted Russia, alienated Europe, and galvanized China.

	▲	palmotea 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		> It's absurd to say that without elaborating on how anyone else was "just as bad," which I expect will be a key part of your next reply. > Trump is fucking bad, and if you disagree after all we've seen, you're either arguing in bad faith, or you're not such a great person yourself. He is costing us every jot and tittle of soft power we ever wielded as a nation. Sorry dude, all of that is coming from inside your own head. You're so blinded by Trump that you're incapable of having this conversation. I don't want to put in the effort to try to fix that. Have a nice day.