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I'd say its largely due to regulation and union issues but that's a bit of a chicken and egg problem. Would you develop really efficient port-technology if it was bureaucratically impossible? It only makes sense to make the tech really well if you can profit from its implementation. Yes, there are automated ports in Europe, they did invent the tech. But the Asian ports are the best at using it now, as with HSR. The US is particularly bad at these things, HSR and ports.
Having a capable government/planning system/labor market is just as important as having technological capacity. Organization of people is a kind of technology, just like organization of matter. People talk about the Chinese working on 'Chinese time' where they get things done quickly.
What does a technological issue even mean in a globalized world? A shortage of money to buy the thing you need? Inability to train/pay engineers that are needed to maintain it? Not having the industrial capacity to cost-effectively produce it at scale? Not having connurbations of know-how that allow quick manufacturing and iteration? Not having laws that allow it?
Not knowing how to make the necessary widget is maybe relevant for semiconductors, AI and missiles but everything else is human factors like organization, political priorities and wealth.
I bet this article would be really useful but it's dead: https://www.joc.com/article/us-ports-no-rush-follow-shanghai-automation-path_20171211.html
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