For all the flaws and weaknesses of the US manufacturing industry, it should not be underestimated. US is still the 2nd largest manufacturing country in the world, and still has massive advantages in various industries:
- It still probably has the best overall aviation industry in the world, even with all the troubles with Boeing.
- It is by far the leading Space power in the world. Already 120 launches this year, and an average US launch has a higher payload capacity.
- It is still really really good in very high tech stuff. In some industries there is still no US substitute.
- At least historically US was also very good at scaling when it needed to. The number of tanks, ships, and aircrafts that US built during WW2 is mind boggling.
Selling a bag of washers for $90k does not make the person stamping the washers comparable to a fully automated high end automotive assembly line , equating the two is the nature of US's claim to having a manufacturing industry.
1 - US aviation industry is still reliant on and struggling to build 60 years old models, it has nothing comparable to, or even realize the existence of China's Low Altitude Economy, and Low Altitude Economy incorporating small urban drones, eVTOLs and long range unmanned transports dwarf America's 20th century legacy aviation.
2 - The entire US has 1x space company, SpaceX, who in turn has 1x model, the Falcon 9, launching 1x payload, Starlink, serving one purpose: to make up for western countries' lack of telecom infrastructure with slow and unreliable internet (that's from experience), that's the entirity of America's space program today. China has half a dozen launch startups, building multiple new commercial launch pads, with satellite factories with capacity multiple times SpaceX coming online. US can't afford to run just a portion of ISS, can't afford to build a replacement, can't afford to fund a dedicated lunar lander or even VIPER, and can't afford Mars Sample Return, while China's national team, which is in addition to commercial providers, simutaneously operate China's own space station, expanding China's own station, building a moon rockets, lunar lander, robotics exporation, Mars landers and Mars Sample Return, and China is doing all of the above solo. So no, US is not the leader, it leads in one or two directions, but is struggling in almost all other.
3 - There are nothing from the US without subsititude, there are things from other countries without substitudes and those countries are vunerable to US financial blackmail, but US itself does not have them. More importantly, the number of things China holds total monopoly over dwarfs the US, just because China doesn't exercise sanctions (yet) does not mean America is comparble.
4 - Historically US scaled faster than Europe, and it still does, but the world is much bigger than Europe now, and America can't go back in time.
