Don't try to beat China at manufacturing. That's a fool's errand for nearly everyone. Let them make most of the things. Concentrate on quality and whatever your core business is.
I believe an emerging ethos indeed is that you must 'beat China' at its own game by simply, building local - i.e. do the global warming thing, and turn off the boats. The planes. &etc.
And instead build more robots. Local robots. Robots that build other robots, and .. things.
It is an emerging ethos, the local DIY-industrialist; actually a catch-up of the spirit that made China such cheap prowess in the first place, but when it happens as a Western phenomenon - i.e. local all the things. - it will indeed mean less cheap plastic crap floating around the ecosphere.
At least one can hope. An energy revolution and 3d-printing/transposing tech need not always start with a Fedex delivery. ("Solve global warming: stop using Fedex!")
Either beat China at the manufacturing game, or continually be side-swiped by Chinese manufacturers.
Alas, no amount of open source anything is going to assist with that challenge ..