"this phase of globalisation is running its course"

"Shifting focus from the political to the technical, Finbarr Livesey’s From Global to Local provides a refreshing contrast. The future of globalisation may be determined less by a rarefied battle of ideas than by something as simple as the 3D printer. His book gives a nod to the idea that protectionist politicians are a threat to world trade, but his focus is very largely on the impersonal progress of technology.
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The globalisation of manufacturing over the past 30 years, particularly with regard to China, has been driven by “labour cost arbitrage” — outsourcing labour-intensive production to where wages are low. And digitisation has enabled information to be transmitted around the world instantly and hence enabled companies to manage disaggregated supply chains. The rise of the “Factory Asia” supply chain for electronics in the 1990s owed something to reductions in import tariffs for goods, but also to better communications.
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But this phase of globalisation is running its course. Now that robots are becoming ever cheaper and more efficient, replacing even cheap workers, [Moi ici: E como de costume entre os anglo-saxónicos esquecem o papel da interacção, da rapidez, da proximidade] manufacturing may well “reshore” or “nearshore” — move back closer to where the products are consumed in the advanced economies. Thus the world economy will deglobalise. There will no longer be the same opportunity for developing countries to haul large numbers of their workers out of poverty through low-cost manufacturing."

Trechos retirados de "The end of globalisation? Don’t be so sure"