The Domestic Premium: Can American Manufacturing Compete?
From Inevitable by an MCJ podcast
June 10, 2026 · 37 min
About this episode
The episode discusses the challenges and potential of American manufacturing in comparison to China's strategy, featuring insights from Edward Shenderovich of Roebling.
Edward Shenderovich is the Founder and CEO of Roebling, a software platform that helps industrial companies evaluate, design, and finance manufacturing projects before breaking ground. After initially setting out to solve bottlenecks in biomanufacturing, Shenderovich and his team uncovered a broader challenge: the economics of scaling physical infrastructure are often poorly understood until it's too late. In this episode of Inevitable, Cody and Edward explore whether the US is making the same mistake with domestic manufacturing that climate tech once made with the “green premium.” If consumers were unwilling to pay more for cleaner products, will they pay more for American-made ones? The conversation examines China's long-term manufacturing strategy, the gap between scientific breakthroughs and industrial scale-up, and why engineering—not invention—is often the missing link in commercial success. Edward argues that national security, data sovereignty, and AI infrastructure may become the forces that justify renewed domestic investment in manufacturing and energy systems. They also discuss the lessons learned from the recent biomanufacturing boom and bust, why many bioindustrial…
People in this episode
Host: Cody
Guest: Edward Shenderovich
Topics covered
- American manufacturing
- biomanufacturing
- economic viability
- AI in manufacturing
- national security
- data sovereignty
Keywords
- American manufacturing
- biomanufacturing
- AI
- economic viability
- national security
- data sovereignty
- manufacturing projects
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: Roebling
Places: United States, China
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