Well I've worked in a factory that turned plate, sheet, and bar stock into machinery. I've worked in a factory where injection molds turned the raw plastic into parts and then those parts were assembled into the products. Some parts were from elsewhere, nobody in north america manufacturers small motors, or really any basic electronic components (if someplace does i'm making a generalization this is not a law of physics) but I got to interact with plenty of people from all parts of the factory.
I won't say that assembly workers are unskilled, same goes for anyone from painters, fab, etc. But I will say that some jobs were dream jobs if you are currently working in assembly; QC, working the cutting machines, maintenance, welding, were all the upper tier jobs in terms of skill, pay, and respect. Nothing against assembly or the people that do it. BUT if you have a plant that only does that, assemble the parts, QC, package, and ship then that is not a facility that is committed to being anything more in the future than it currently is.
Don't get me wrong, I am not nor did I say that any joe can work on the assembly line. But there is a lower bar for assembly than say an engineer, doctor, mechanic carpenter, etc. I may sound like I don't respect them and for that I apologize but this won't be the last time I mention you should teach your children a skill that can't be outsourced, because really the current generation of 30-40 year olds should be the last generation of American factory workers. I don't think that makes me a snob, I'm not afraid to say that that's how I think. A kid just out of high school should be going to trade school or university, not to work straight out of school. You want to go to work doing the same thing every day? Be a plumber, be a maintenance tech of some kind, be an architect. A licensed, certified, degreed, or otherwise 'qualified by a third party' kind of skill. Not a factory worker with only inhouse training.
Yes it is good that there are Americans working, no matter the skill or prestige involved. Yes it is good that tools are being produced by Americans in America for Americans to use (hopefully some of these get shipped globally also), but what I meant was I don't see this becoming something bigger than it is in the short term.
