The Patriot Post® · The Crisis of American Manufacturing

Voters are considering plenty of issues this election cycle, from inflation to immigration to crime. But no one seems to worry about manufacturing anymore, even though it’s one of the major factors influencing our economy and especially our national security.

Both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris have plans to restore American manufacturing, although their approaches are vastly different — the results will be, too.

“Trump talks about tariffs more than just about any other policy proposal” on the campaign trail, ABC News reports. “The tax on imports makes up a key part of his plan for revitalizing manufacturing, alongside a lower tax burden for companies that he says would boost production and hiring.” ABC adds, “Trump has proposed tariffs of between 60% and 100% on Chinese goods. A set of far-reaching tariffs would also include a tax as high as 20% on all imported products.”

It’s a bold strategy, but American consumers will end up paying more for everyday goods if China doesn’t blink. Trump, however, believes that big tariffs are the best means of forcing China to the trade table.

As for Harris, her plan sounds appealing but doesn’t offer any specifics other than “investing” $100 billion in manufacturing. As The Washington Post reports, “Industrial policy has long been controversial, and economists tend to warn that federal efforts to plan the economy through government-led investments can be ineffective or even backfire. But Democrats have increasingly embraced this approach after Trump’s election in 2016, seeing it as important to protect U.S. economic competitiveness amid the rise of China.”

Unfortunately, both plans are a Band-Aid approach to a problem that likely can’t be fixed with Harris’s subsidies or Trump’s tariffs.

Two large companies that come to mind when we think of U.S. manufacturing are Boeing and Intel. However, they’re both in trouble for different reasons. Boeing is hampered by safety and labor issues, while Intel is on the verge of a takeover.

“The loss of either company would have industrywide repercussions,” according to The Wall Street Journal. “Each supports a multilayered ecosystem of designers, workers, managers and suppliers. Once that ecosystem moves offshore, it is almost impossible to bring back.”

“The U.S. still designs the world’s most innovative products, but is losing the knack for making them,” adds the Journal. “At the end of 1999, four of the 10 most valuable U.S. companies were manufacturers. Today, none are. The lone rising star: Tesla, which ranked 11th.”

One area of concern is the production of semiconductors. The U.S. has the ability to design chips, but we don’t make them. The Hudson Institute warns, “While American companies have developed some of the most advanced methods for designing semiconductors, the most advanced manufacturing capabilities right now exist in Taiwan and South Korea — with most chips coming out of Taiwan. If the U.S. were no longer able to access Taiwan’s semiconductor industry, it would have a devastating impact on the U.S. economy.”

And yet, many headlines across the country claim that the loss of manufacturing is exaggerated. The Information Technology & Innovation Foundation’s website states: “Pundits and Washington insiders continue to deny the facts, claiming that all is well in a concerted effort to avoid any blame for globalization. The comparison of the Census Bureau’s quinquennial manufacturing data from 2002 to 2022 reveals a stark and depressing reality: in just two decades, the number of manufacturing firms fell, jobs diminished, payroll failed to keep pace with national growth, and productivity stalled.”

In addition, data from the World Bank Group shows that China’s manufacturing value is now $2 trillion higher than that of the United States.

And the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics claims, “Despite being a leading driver of employment growth for decades, manufacturing has shed employment over the past 40 years as the U.S. economy has shifted to service-providing industries.”

With the election just 11 days away, one wonders if Harris’s or Trump’s plans will seriously address the gutting of American industry caused by years of globalization, bad trade deals, and anti-business policies.

Importing consumer goods is one thing, but putting our national security at risk is another. No matter who wins the White House on November 5, let’s hope they begin to take the manufacturing crisis seriously.