[gtirloni]

One aspect of this that's usually pretty clear in these discussions is the huge chain of suppliers for anything that's available in China. If the US wants to tip the balance to the point that starts existing again in the US (and as efficient as it's in China today), Apple's subsidies could have a network effect that also benefits small US companies.

[lucideer]

That may be the case for some large companies (though I'd still be skeptical of the extent of the beneficial effect), but at least in Apple's case, they have a long history of curbing this network effect by securing exclusivity of their supply chain. See e.g. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3194836

[gtirloni]

Good point and a nice opportunity to improve the fine printing in these agreements.