>>>Now, let's suppose that those "home nations" - Korea and Japan - decide to align with China rather than with the US.
>>>Crazy?
>>>Look again.
>>>If that happens, where did the US' manufacturing base just go?
>
>I'm saying that robot manufacturing- whatever brand- soon will make better economic sense closer to the purchaser's home. E.g. say you're interested in a BMW electric car that costs $35K to build whether the robot line is in Bavaria, New Jersey or China. But what's the cost to ship it in from abroad? That fixed cost now becomes the main differentiator rather than a skilled or cheap workforce. So manufacturing will scatter to where it's needed while copyright and patent holders clip the ticket on their goods made by robots in even the smallest markets.
>
>Certainly China has huge regional ambitions, but how reliant is that on surpluses from outsourced imanufacturing to China?

A bit simplistic for my taste. Environmental standards and bureocratic hurdles add more cost in "developed" countries.