Developing countries take time to get to a point where they create their own innovations and intellectual property (IP).
The Japanese used to be experts at copying American made products. Then they improved them all while improving their manufacturing processes. After some decades they started developing their own products and IP. Copying went down and their ability to innovate went up. Unfortunately for them South Korea was next (and China was just around the corner).
Now we're dealing with China (skipped over S. Korea - they're experts at knocking off everything, stealing IP but they, like Japan have limited land and human resources so they're limited in their ability to affect the US).
China has been very smart. If a company wants to do business in China and try to sell to the biggest market in the world (1.5B people) their "government" requires you build a plant there. So companies have been doing that for decades. And the Chinese workers inside the plants learned all about the products' designs, manufacturing and everything else since there were inside the plant. The Chinese government didn't have to steal our stuff; the Chinese people are doing that.
But the Chinese government is also smart about what they do next: Once the Chinese companies are successfully competing using the IP they've stolen, the government (which certainly "invested" in the Chinese company) makes them the favored vendor while the US/foreign company is saddled with restrictions and regulations and difficulties in selling inside China (not to mention their costs are higher). So, the Chinese welcome foreign companies to do business in China which ultimately creates Chinese competitors that take away their market opportunities because China wants business to be done with Chinese companies not foreign companies.
China also:
1. Makes it near impossible to take money out of the country so even if a company is successful there the money typically stays there
2. Has government sponsored IT warfare going on. They've been hacking into businesses and governments for years stealing the most confidential information and designs. What they can't steal one way they steal another way.
* The good news (if there is any) is they need the US and the rest of the world.
* Someday they too will innovate and develop their own IP and then they'll have something others can steal
* India is the next country to offer low labor costs. Unfortunately India is a democracy so their government, like ours, isn't nearly as efficient and organized and focused as China's communist, one-party rulers.
