My hopes and prayers, during the recently concluded Thanksgiving celebration, are for exponentially more U.S. manufacturing jobs in the near future. Many regard the Pilgrim’s (the early settlers of Plymouth Colony) three-day feast to celebrate a bountiful harvest in the fall of 1621 as the nation’s first Thanksgiving. I hope the naming of and efforts by President Trump lead to a historical push towards improving American manufacturing might. As a result, we can later give thanks for and commemorate a national holiday (e.g. American Manufacturing Day).
Manufacturing Already Showing Positive Signs
Even before President-elect Trump has taken office, there have been positive signs of U.S. manufacturing jobs being created. CEO’s of both Ford Motor Company and Apple Computer have said they will bring back more production jobs to America!
Apple May Build An Additional U.S. Manufacturing Plant
Currently, most of Apple’s production jobs reside in countries such as China countries such as China and Vietnam. However, in a recently released report, Apple has asked one of its main production suppliers, Foxconn, to investigate moving more manufacturing jobs to the U.S.
Additionally, president-elect Donald Trump is considering incentives to encourage Apple to build at least one major production plant in the United States to manufacture products locally. He explained to Apple CEO, Tim Cook that he would consider it a “real achievement” if he could convince Apple to make devices in the United States instead of other countries and Cook reportedly acknowledged the suggestion by saying that he understands.
Mr. Trump went on to say, “I think we’ll create the incentives for you and I think you’re going to do it. We’re going for a very large tax cut for corporations, which you’ll be happy about.”
Unfortunately, big tax cuts, are presently impossible due to current regulations. As a result, Mr. Trump further commented, “Therefore those regulations have to go. These regulations have become ridiculous and companies find it hard to start things up and expand.”
Ford Motor Keeping Manufacturing Jobs In America
Ford Motor Company Executive Chairman Bill Ford Jr. told President-elect Donald Trump, “Our small Lincoln utility vehicle made at the Louisville Assembly plant will stay in Kentucky. We are encouraged that you and the new Congress will pursue policies that will improve U.S. competitiveness and make it possible to keep production of this vehicle here in the United States.”
Ford builds both the Ford Escape and Lincoln MKC SUV at its Louisville Assembly Plant in Kentucky and employs about 4,700 people there. It also has a separate truck plant in Louisville, where it builds pickups and larger SUVs.
Many Manufacturing Recruiters See Job Promise
Our recruitment firm recently surveyed other engineering, technology and manufacturing recruiting teams. The consensus is recruiters see a lot of potential under President Trump for creating U.S. manufacturing jobs. This includes not only production worker positions, but also job vacancies for scientific, R&D (research and development), engineering, IT (information technology) and manufacturing technology talent.
6 Responses
While I welcome the idea of more high-quality jobs in the U.S. I don’t think we should overtake the original intent of Thanksgiving. Maybe an American Manufacturing Holiday should merge with President’s Day, since all of our nation’s leaders have contributed in one way or another to the millions of jobs that add meaning to our lives and help us all achieve the “American Dream”!
I still can’t see how the marketplace can suddenly create new jobs. The marketplace, not government, has decided coal is no longer a viable cheap option for energy, The new government can work to dismantle all the regs it wants and allow coal to be burned with no barriers but how can that but marginally revive the coal industry? The same for unskilled assembly work which has been leaving America for decades.
This can work. Americans simply need to spend incrementally more money for American made products, and this can be accomplished through tariffs. As long as we engage in “free” trade with mercantilist low wage countries that have few or no environmental protections, America will continue to hemmorage wealth and jobs. Tariffs plus pro growth taxes, and reasonable regulations will accomplish one or all of the following three things: 1) repatriate American manufacturing, 3) prevent offshoring and 3) ensure that some of the innovative new products emerging from American R&D will be manufactured in the US. Now before one of you rabid free traders raises the specter of Smoot-Hawley, I remind you that the tables are reversed in 2016. In the 1930s the US had the most to lose from restrictive trade because we were the workshop to the world and ran very large trade surpluses. Today we run HUGE trade deficits, and every trading partner in the world has more to lose in a trade war than we do. Finally, it must be noted that IF Trump accomplishes what he set out to do, we are talking about a GENERATIONAL crusade. It took 25-40 years to screw this county up, and it will take 25 years to fix it. Trump can start the ball rolling, and we’ll see tangible results in 2-4 years, but the BIG transsformation will occur further down the road, and ONLY if we stay the course. If we elect a bozo AFTER Trump, it will all have been for naught.
Thanks for sharing this, Scott. I’d not heard about the Apple study — interesting, especially the cost estimates provided in the click-through article you provided. I look forward to seeing how the economics of all of this shake out. I’m a fan of free markets, so am troubled if tariffs are imposed, as I see them as anti-competitive behavior. Having said this, there’s plenty of anti-competitive behavior exhibited from China when it comes to IP rights. There’s a lot here to be sorted out, but it’s all important.
I’d like to see jobs stay in the U.S. as much as the next guy. My question is whether favoring certain industries or creating tax incentives for specific technologies is the right way to go. Those benefits inevitably flow to established companies in mature industries. Growth and expansion, and the employment improvements that come with that growth and expansion, will come from new industries and technologies that disrupt the established order. The outgoing administration attempted to foster that growth with its preferred pet projects (e.g. loan guarantees to the failed solar company, Solyndra). The new administration should consider the long game of creating jobs by making it easier for startups to do business. Eliminating regulations that tie up startup capital and manpower would be a good start.
He hasn’t become president yet and the MSM is already on his back. Let’s give him a chance. EeEitherIt ‘s going to be an interesting couple of years with this man as president. I wish him the best and hope he can make some positive changes in our economy.
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