Products that can reasonably be made in one country shouldn't be imported to said country, amirite?

In Australia we will harvest/make goods , send them overseas to be packaged, then import them back. I get that we're small but it's totally insane.

by fabiolaward 6 days ago

Plus the things we do protect like OP wants become really expensive when the supply chain breaks. Just need another flood in Queensland for Bananas to end up being ten bucks extra again

by Naive_Pangolin7395 6 days ago

Steel. Sell the unprocessed ore overseas at a stupidly low price, import processed steel at a stupidly high price.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

That's because making steel is an expensive dirty process. Everybody wants things made locally until they put a factory next to your house.

by NaturalKnowledge 6 days ago

and how are you going to feed people in Europe and America?

by Anonymous 6 days ago

How do you mandate such things? How do you force people to make certain things? Do you pick people from schools and say "ok you're now going to start making a business making ceramic bowls" or are you going to mandate companies to branch out?

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Actually no. If what you care is about being eco friendly, you'd let the most efficient place produce.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

if we're trying to be more eco-friendly 'We' are not.

by Asleep-Celery9895 6 days ago

Specialization is the answer, but you're right, it's cost effective only cause shipping is cheap. If gasoline was properly priced with externalities it'd make sense to locally produce.

by Fine_Muscle7461 6 days ago

We're a capitalist and consumerist society. Eco-friendly options are irrelevant to businesses who want to make profits. Likewise, eco friendly products are irrelevant to consumers trying to save money. The only way this would work is if governments regulated imports and exports. But that is unlikely as regulating those would hinder relationships with export countries and also increase prices for consumers.

by Both_Initiative 6 days ago

So the effort to send something from the east coast to the west coast is smaller than to send to Europe or Asia respectively (either go all the way around or though the panama canal) Once it is on a boat it doesn't matter

by Nick30 6 days ago

I started questioning importing veg since I was in HS. I'll never agree with the wasteful moving around of food if we grow it here.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Can't utilize slave labor this way.

by Scary_Minute 6 days ago

Quit making sense. You'll break the internet.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

Unless you have multiple businesses/companies making that item so they compete on price you're just handing a company/business a blank cheque.

by Anonymous 6 days ago

There's a lot of cases in which making en masse and shipping is more efficient than localizing production. This would be the case in some places still.

by Anonymous 6 days ago