Look at the talk about the US buying Argentinian beef. US beef producers are screaming their profits are low as it is and they don’t need outside beef sources ruining it more. That’s why nothing can be cheap in the US.
Why did the US try convince to China not go it alone on semiconductors. They said it can’t be done by one country alone but Trump wants that to happen for the US despite how others said it can’t be done. The fact is it can be done. They didn’t want China to try because that meant they couldn’t squeeze into that supply chain and have some measure of control if they could be the bottleneck that can be turned into leverage. And why do things cost more for the West to do things is because every other player involved wants to make a profit for themselves getting as much as they can. At minimum even minimal profits for each means higher prices. The beef industry’s supply chain is not as complicated as semiconductors yet face the same problems. Promises to lower food prices by politicians like Trump can easily be broken because cheaper means less profitable therefore why bother at all which is why they will never beat China if they are competing in the game.
The only chance the US has is eliminating the competition so there are no competitors. That way they can keep prices high and there will be no competition. But what are the chances the US can achieve that without the risk of suffering loss by doing that? Great enough that they won’t even try. That’s the dilemma that the US faces.
China is not going to yield especially since the US under Trump and Biden used up all their leverage hoping China would blink. What does the US have to bargain with. Absolutely nothing in order to get 100% control like they’d wish. The US should’ve accepted that they’re just a part of the world like everyone where too could just be part of China’s supply chain and vice versa but the West wants it all despite how unrealistic. Just look at China and they thought China was in the weakest position yet look at how in panic at the prospect of losing it all because of it. That’s because they were fooled by their own propaganda of themselves where they think people can’t tell the difference from a pig wearing lipstick from that of a westerner wearing it.
