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Unless we in the USA want protectionist laws, the changes in industries are almost always going to be due to consumer choices. How many of us really still buy most of our hardware, paint, and tools, for example, at a local hardware store rather than at Home Depot or Lowe's? The word most there was important, because if we make our big shopping trips to the "big-box" stores and just get the occasional screwdriver or couple of bolts at the neighborhood store, it is "our own fault" when the little store closes.
Did you know you can still buy gym shoes (or "sneakers"/"tennis shoes" depending on where you are) that are Made in USA? They are in many stores, too-they are New Balance brand. Now for the kicker: They cost about $100-$120 a pair for the US-made ones. New Balance also has its $30-$60/pair shoes, and they are made in China like all of Nike's shoes, and other brands. So, in a few cases at least, we still have the choice to "Buy American", but we have to be willing to pay for it.
Also, I do not understand the singling out of Wal-Mart for driving manufacturing out of the USA. Wal-Mart, as far as I know, has only truly been a huge force in U.S. retailing for maybe the past 15 or maybe 20 years (since it expanded from only rural areas into the cities and suburbs), but the shrinking of U.S. manufaturing has been constant and continuous for 40 years. (Remember Mattel "Hot Wheels" cars? They came out in 1967, and they were made in Hong Kong.) You can buy things like Sterilite plastic bins at Wal-Mart, and they are as American-made as a Hollywood movie.
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