For much of the last half century, economic life in the heart of North Carolina has been dominated by factory closings, joblessness and downgraded expectations. Textile mills and furniture plants have been undercut by low-priced imports from Mexico and China. Tobacco processing jobs have disappeared.

在过去半个世纪的大部分时间里，北卡罗莱纳州中心地区的经济生活一直被工厂倒闭、失业和预期下调所主导。纺织厂和家具厂受到来自墨西哥和中国的低价进口产品的影响。烟草加工业的职位已经消失。

Yet over the last several years, an infusion of investment in cutting-edge industries like biotechnology, computer chips and electric vehicles has lifted the fortunes of long-struggling communities.

然而，在过去几年里，对生物技术、计算机芯片和电动汽车等尖端行业的投资注入，使长期处于困境的社区的命运得到了改善。

North Carolina presents a conspicuous example of this trend, yet a similar story is playing out elsewhere. From industrial swaths of the Midwest to factory towns in the South, areas that suffered the most wrenching downsides of trade are now capturing the greatest shares of investment into forward-tilting industries, according to research from the Brookings Institution, a public policy research organization in Washington.

北卡罗莱纳州是这一趋势的明显例子，但类似的故事正在其他地方上演。华盛顿公共政策研究机构布鲁金斯学会的研究显示，从中西部的工业区到南方的工业城镇，那些遭受贸易最严重负面影响的地区，现在正吸引最大份额的前沿领域投资。

位于北卡罗莱纳州皮茨伯勒的工厂是各种小型企业的所在地，包括户外活动空间和餐馆。

Brookings researchers examined pledges of private investment across the United States, using data compiled by the Biden administration as part of its campaign to subsidize domestic production of computer chips and electric vehicles. They also tapped a Massachusetts Institute of Technology database that tracks investments in clean energy. Over the last three years, $736 billion in investment has been promised for these key industries, the researchers found.

布鲁金斯学会研究人员使用拜登政府为补贴国内计算机芯片和电动汽车生产而编制的数据，对美国各地的私人投资承诺进行了研究，此外还利用了麻省理工学院一个追踪清洁能源投资的数据库。研究人员发现，在过去三年中，这些关键行业已获得7360亿美元的投资承诺。

When they mapped the investments, the Brookings team concluded that nearly a third of the total is flowing into communities that experienced the worst effects of the so-called China Shock — the factory closures that followed China’s entry to the global trading system in 2001.

布鲁金斯学会的研究小组在绘制这些投资的分布图时得出结论，其中近三分之一的投资流入了受所谓“中国冲击”影响最严重的地区——“中国冲击” 是指2001年中国加入全球贸易体系后出现的工厂倒闭现象。

“There’s still an orientation toward production in these places,” said Mark Muro, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro and one of the authors of the study. Even as technology advances and products change, traditional manufacturing areas tend to retain the acumen and skills needed to make things, he said.

布鲁金斯都市政策项目高级研究员、该研究报告的作者之一马克·穆罗说，“这些地方仍然以生产为导向。”他说，即使发生了技术进步和产品变化，传统制造业领域往往倾向于保留制造产品所需的智慧和技能。

去年，拜登总统与Wolfspeed首席执行官格雷格·洛（左）和州长罗伊·库珀一起参观了该公司位于北卡罗莱纳州达勒姆的工厂。

Those findings have undercut the tone of fatalism that often colors conversations about the risks of trade and automation, lending credence to the notion that government has tools to soften the effects for workers and communities: Targeted grants can spur the development of strategically important industries while yielding middle-class paychecks.

这些研究结果驳斥了人们在谈论贸易和自动化风险时经常表现出的听天由命态度，使人们相信政府有办法减轻对工人和社区的影响：针对性的拨款可以刺激具有战略意义的行业发展，同时给中产阶级带来收入。

That takeaway is especially relevant given intensifying worries about a potential new China Shock. As the country’s economy slows, limiting the willingness of its consumers to spend, the Chinese government is steering more credit to exporters. That is sending growing volumes of goods into world markets, threatening factory jobs in higher-wage nations.

鉴于人们对潜在的新一轮中国冲击的担忧日益加剧，这一结论尤为重要。随着中国经济放缓，限制了消费者的消费意愿，中国政府正将更多支持投向出口商。这导致越来越多的商品进入世界市场，威胁到工资较高国家的工厂就业。

“These shocks are not one-offs,” Mr. Muro said. “They will be frequent. They are, unfortunately, part of the rocky ride you get by participating in a global economy.”

“这些冲击不是一次性的，”穆罗说。“它们会很频繁。不幸的是，它们是参与全球经济的艰难旅程的一部分。”

Ahead of a presidential election that may hinge on economic sentiments, the findings appear to bolster the case for so-called industrial policy, in which the government subsidizes strategic industries. The campaign has featured contrasting conceptions of how the United States should manage the opportunities and challenges of international trade.

在可能取决于经济情绪的总统大选之前，调查结果似乎支持了所谓的产业政策，即政府补贴战略性产业。在这场竞选活动中，双方对美国应如何应对国际贸易的机遇和挑战有着截然不同的看法。

Former President Donald J. Trump has described Chinese industry as a mortal threat to American livelihoods, while promising to impose steep tariffs on imports from China. Economists warn that this course risks lifting prices for many goods while undermining the competitiveness of factories in the United States that depend on imported components to make their products.

前总统特朗普称中国工业是对美国生计的致命威胁，同时承诺对从中国进口的商品征收高额关税。经济学家警告说，这种做法可能会推高许多商品的价格，同时削弱依赖进口零部件的美国工厂的竞争力。

位于西勒市的Wolfspeed工厂的建设创造了约2800个工作岗位。

The Biden administration — while retaining and advancing many of the tariffs imposed by Mr. Trump — has also embraced subsidies in strategic industries to encourage American production. Economists have criticized that approach as a form of trade protectionism that imperils American alliances. The political risks are heightened by the reality that the benefits are likely to take years and billions of dollars in investment to emerge.

拜登政府在保留和推进特朗普征收的许多关税的同时，也对战略行业提供补贴，以鼓励美国生产。经济学家批评这种做法是一种危及美国联盟的贸易保护主义。这些收益可能需要数年时间和数十亿美元的投资才能显现，因此政治风险更大。

The Brookings research suggests that the benefits of subsidizing industry could be in the pipeline, at least in places like Chatham County, N.C.

布鲁金斯学会的研究表明，补贴工业的收益可能正在酝酿之中，至少在北卡罗莱纳州查塔姆县这样的地方是这样。

For decades, the county suffered the consequences as furniture manufacturing and textile jobs vanished. It largely missed out on the biotechnology boom that played out to the northeast, in the Raleigh-Durham area.

几十年来，随着家具制造业和纺织业的就业机会消失，该县深受其害。它在很大程度上错过了东北部罗利-达勒姆地区的生物技术热潮。

Between 1992 and 2023, manufacturing as a share of total employment in Chatham County dropped to 10 percent from 47 percent, according to data from the NC Budget & Tax Center.

根据北卡罗莱纳州预算与税收中心的数据，在1992年至2023年间，制造业占查塔姆县总就业人数的比例从47%下降到10%。

Yet the county has harnessed its abundance of developable land and its legacy as a center for manufacturing to attract major investments.

然而，该县利用其丰富的可开发土地和作为制造业中心的传统，吸引了大量投资。

In June 2023, Wolfspeed, a company that makes raw materials for computer chips used in electric vehicles, broke ground on a plant occupying 450 acres in the town of Siler City, home to about 8,000 people.

2023年6月，为电动汽车所用电脑芯片生产原材料的Wolfspeed公司在人口约为8000人的西勒城开始建设一家占地约182公顷的工厂。

A $5 billion investment, the new factory recently gained approval from the Commerce Department for a $750 million federal grant under the CHIPS and Science Act — a centerpiece of the Biden administration’s campaign to make computer chips in the United States.

这家新工厂投资50亿美元，最近获得了商务部批准，根据《芯片与科学法案》得到7.5亿美元联邦拨款。该法案是拜登政府为在美国制造计算机芯片而采取的核心举措。

在美国汽车工业的鼎盛时期，别克位于密歇根州弗林特的工厂有三万名员工。

“This is going to allow us to build out the manufacturing lines faster,” said Wolfspeed’s chief executive, Gregg Lowe.

“这将使我们能够更快地建立生产线，”Wolfspeed的首席执行官格雷格·洛说。

The company anticipates beginning production in the middle of next year, eventually generating 1,800 jobs. Building the facility has created paychecks for some 2,800 construction workers.

该公司预计明年年中开始生产，最终创造1800个就业岗位。建设该设施为大约2800名建筑工人带来了薪酬收入。

Wolfspeed picked the site in part because it already held the infrastructure to deliver enormous volumes of water — a carry-over from its previous incarnation as a center for textiles. Wolfspeed’s technology, which centers on a material called silicon carbide, entails growing crystals in temperatures reaching 4,500 degrees (2,500 degrees Celsius), or roughly half the temperature of the surface of the sun. Water is crucial for the cooling process.

Wolfspeed之所以选择这个地方，部分原因是这里已经拥有能输送大量水的基础设施——这是它以前作为纺织品中心时遗留下来的。Wolfspeed的技术核心是一种叫做碳化硅的材料，需要在2500摄氏度的温度下（大约是太阳表面温度的一半）生长晶体。水对冷却过程至关重要。

Elsewhere in Chatham County, a Vietnamese company that makes electric vehicles, VinFast, has pledged to invest $4 billion on a new factory that it said would employ some 7,500 people. Development has been repeatedly delayed, but work on the factory is expected to begin this year, said Michael Smith, president of the Chatham County Economic Development Corporation.

在查塔姆县的另一个地方，一家生产电动汽车的越南公司VinFast承诺投资40亿美元建设一家新工厂，并表示将雇佣约7500名员工。查塔姆县经济发展公司总裁迈克尔·史密斯说，开发工作一再推迟，但工厂预计将于今年开工。

Just to the west, in neighboring Randolph County, Toyota is testing its initial batch of electric vehicle batteries at a new factory — a $14 billion investment. North Carolina also boasts mines and refineries for lithium, a key raw material for batteries.

就在西边毗邻的伦道夫县，丰田正在一家投资140亿美元的新工厂，测试其首批电动汽车电池。北卡罗莱纳州还拥有锂矿和精炼厂，锂是电池的关键原材料。

Collectively, these operations have transformed a region once synonymous with decline into a hub for forward-looking industry.

总的来说，这些业务将一个曾是衰落代名词的地区转变为前瞻性产业的中心。

“That’s the full stack for building electric vehicles,” said Aaron Chatterji, an economist at Duke University who previously helped to establish the CHIPS Act. “You’re building a cluster that we can continue to build on.”

“这是制造电动汽车的全部条件，”杜克大学经济学家、参与了《芯片法案》立法工作的亚伦·查特吉说。“你正在建立一个我们可以继续发展的集群。”

筹建中的NanoGraf弗林特工厂，该公司生产电动汽车用电池的阳极。20世纪50年代，弗林特的别克工厂。

In Michigan, another state long characterized by diminished industry, prospects are being revived by investments in electric vehicle and battery plants.

在密歇根州，另一个长期以工业萎缩为特征的州，由于对电动汽车和电池工厂的投资，前景正在改善。

In Flint, the birthplace of General Motors, a Chicago-based company called NanoGraf is constructing a factory to make components for batteries. It was recently awarded a $60 million Department of Energy grant.

在通用汽车的诞生地弗林特，一家名为NanoGraf的芝加哥公司正在建造一座制造电池组件的工厂。公司最近获得了美国能源部6000万美元的拨款。

The plant is being erected on land that was previously home to Buick City, a factory complex where 30,000 people worked in the heyday of the American auto industry.

该工厂建在别克城的旧址上，在美国汽车业的全盛时期，别克城是一个有三万人工作的综合工厂。

Representative Dan Kildee, a Democrat whose district includes Flint, but who is not running for re-election, grew up within blocks of the Buick City plant. His grandfather, a former lumberjack, moved there for a job on the assembly line. Wage earners drove home in cars they helped build and spent vacations in lakefront cottages.

民主党众议员丹·基尔迪的选区包括弗林特，但他没有竞选连任，他在别克城工厂附近的街区长大。他的祖父曾是一名伐木工人，后来搬到那里，找了份装配线工作。工薪阶层开着自己参与建造的汽车回家，在湖边的小屋度假。

When jobs were shipped to lower-wage countries, the damage went beyond finances, seeping into the psyche of the community. The abandonment of Buick City in 1999 cemented Flint’s status as a fallen icon.

当工作岗位被转移到低工资国家时，造成的损害不仅仅是经济上的，还会渗入社区的心理。1999年别克城的废弃，令弗林特进一步成为没落的标志。

Now, a new sense of confidence is palpable. “There’s this sort of turning of the page in this region,” Mr. Kildee, 66, said.

现在，一种新的信心显而易见。“这个地区好像翻开了新的一页，”66岁的基尔迪说。

NanoGraf saw in Flint a community with roots in manufacturing where skilled people could be trained by community colleges to handle the needed work.

NanoGraf在弗林特看到了一个植根于制造业的社区，社区学院可以培训有技能的人来处理所需的工作。

Company leaders also appreciated the symbolic power of advancing electric vehicles on the same ground that was integral to the rise of gas-powered cars in the previous century.

公司领导也意识到，在这块曾与上个世纪汽油动力汽车的崛起密不可分的土地上，推动电动汽车的发展具有象征意义。

“It’s about revitalizing the community,” Francis Wang, the company’s chief executive, said. “We’re transforming the Rust Belt into the Battery Belt.”

“这关系到社区的振兴，”公司首席执行官弗朗西斯·王（音）说。“我们正在把铁锈带变成电池带。”