It seems eager to make even bigger mistakes. The current administration started playing with levers it does not understand.

I never believed that the "spreading of democracy" was any more than a flimsy pretext for exploiting China's cheap labour.

Or China will come around one way or another. It is not like US did all the hard work.

Let me put it another way, even if China is a democracy, it will still compete with US in world economy. So many people there need work, the price will be low to produce things there.

Blame US's manufacturing woe fully on China isn't logical, Japan/South Korea are of the same breed, just lesser on China's scale.

Another arguably more important factor is the over regulation and bloated governance here, to a degree of being comical, just look at the California government.

Is this drawn out, lengthy democratic process really for anything of substance or just performative virtual signaling that essentially benefits no one in the name of benefiting everyone?

Anti manufacturing is a choice, made the government, thus by the populace themselves. And please, do not bring Trump, California has been in a Dem super majority since 2012.