Natalie Kitroff

They essentially just imported that expertise wholesale.

So something pretty basic.

How do workers feel about this, Keith?

Obviously, in the United States, the idea of automating all these factory jobs has produced a ton of anxiety.

And I can imagine in China, it also might not feel great to see a robot take over.

But at the same time, you've said there's a reluctance among the Chinese to take these factory jobs.

So how's it playing?

Right.

It makes sense that if you're not actually seeing the main downside of automation, you might not be as opposed to it.

Keith, where does the U.S.

stand in terms of catching up?

And is it fair to assume that in order to genuinely compete with China, we'd have to make factories more like China's, heavily automated as much as possible?

It's interesting.

You're basically saying either way China wins.

If we want to compete, we have to buy their equipment to do that.

I want to ask about what all this says about the purpose of competing with China on manufacturing.

Because what you've said makes me wonder, if we actually do succeed in bringing manufacturing back to the U.S., will that mean that we actually get the kind of jobs that people seem to want?

In China, you've said many people don't want factory jobs anymore.

But in the U.S., a lot of people do.

It was a big reason people voted for Trump, because they thought he was going to bring those high-quality jobs back.