[urbanclient]

Going off the above discussions, this thread seems more suitable:

Little sense in exporting Canadian maple to Vietnam for manufacture and export back here. Does that really happen? I just can't fathom the economics on that ... that's the kind of thing where I'd hope tarifs do come into play, because that's would be just silly.

Maritime shipping is dirt cheap, we're talking tiny fractions of the total cost. So in that sense, cheap labour and economies of scale with large factories in Vietnam help a lot. If hypothetically, all of Europe offshored their furniture manufacturing to Vietnam, then the economies of scale would be immense.

But I think you already why companies offshored.

Canada is in a weird position for many things, it exports raw materials, but then lacks the complete domestic value chain that can produces final products from raw materials, with all of the intermediate stages of production. Even if Canada manufactures the final product, it's often done with parts made elsewhere.

Aluminum goes from Quebec to the US, to be rolled into sheets->then can sheets->then exported back to Canada to make aluminum cans. Some cans are made in the US (473mL tall cans), then exported to Canada for beverage bottling/canning. Aluminum<--->trade war.