I would say the Trump tariffs are not helping. I mean, mostly because there’s no larger coherent plan attached to them. Like they’re very chaotic in terms of like what country faces what raid and maybe that changes and it differs across industry. And even the rationale, like sometimes the tariffs are invoked as we’re trying to bring back manufacturing jobs. Sometimes they’re somehow related to things like fentanyl, and what they’re doing in the meantime is they’re making imports or inputs into *** lot of manufacturing goods. And so when they get more expensive, all of *** sudden the output of manufacturing. Firms gets very expensive and not competitive in global markets and other countries retaliate and we’ve seen *** really big reduction in manufacturing exports as *** share of the total economy so I think all in all um there’s just no plan here and the tariffs have definitely done more damage than help.
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Get the Facts: Are Trump’s tariffs bringing back manufacturing jobs? Here’s the data
When President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs last April, he promised it would help revitalize America’s manufacturing industry. Since that announcement, employment in the manufacturing industry has been in decline, according to an analysis by the Get the Facts Data Team using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.The loss of manufacturing jobs coincides with the softening in the labor market, said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank. There were about 12.2 million manufacturing employees in the sector when former President Joe Biden began his term. By the end of December 2024, near the end of his administration, the U.S. had about 12.7 million manufacturing employees.A year later, that number dropped by 108,000, according to the latest BLS jobs report. The industry has seen job losses each month since January 2025, but added 5,000 last month. Manufacturing is a major sector of the U.S. economy and supports other industries. But over the past 25 years, it’s been battered by globalization and policy mistakes that have put pressure on the industry, said Bivens. During the 2008 financial crisis, the manufacturing sector had steep job losses. Job growth began stabilizing in the late 2010s and held steady through the end of 2019 under President Trump’s first term. However, employment declined again following COVID-19. Since 2000, the sector has lost approximately five million jobs.Another challenge the industry is facing right now: Trump’s tariffs. According to Bivens, tariffs are currently doing more damage than helping the sector. Tariffs make imports expensive, which also makes manufacturing outputs expensive, making it harder for firms to compete in global markets. Countries can also retaliate and add their own tariffs on their goods.But Bivens points out tariffs can be beneficial in some cases; however, what he’s seeing from this administration doesn’t show evidence of a larger plan, and tariff decisions tend to be erratic. Some U.S. states, particularly in the Midwest, have a higher share of manufacturing jobs and rely on the sector. But more than half of U.S. states had a decline in manufacturing employment over the past year. Alaska had the steepest percentage drop at 6%, a loss of 800 employees. Montana and Oregon followed, with declines of roughly 5% and 3%.California, Texas and Ohio have the highest total number of manufacturing employees, but only Ohio reported job growth, gaining 8,500 employees over the year. California lost 32,600 employees, a 2.3% loss. “Manufacturing is still a place where you have a lot of workers without a college degree,” said Bivens. “When they lose a manufacturing job, they’re a little less likely to find a job with equivalent pay and equivalent benefits.” PHNjcmlwdCB0eXBlPSJ0ZXh0L2phdmFzY3JpcHQiPiFmdW5jdGlvbigpeyJ1c2Ugc3RyaWN0Ijt3aW5kb3cuYWRkRXZlbnRMaXN0ZW5lcigibWVzc2FnZSIsKGZ1bmN0aW9uKGUpe2lmKHZvaWQgMCE9PWUuZGF0YVsiZGF0YXdyYXBwZXItaGVpZ2h0Il0pe3ZhciB0PWRvY3VtZW50LnF1ZXJ5U2VsZWN0b3JBbGwoImlmcmFtZSIpO2Zvcih2YXIgYSBpbiBlLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdKWZvcih2YXIgcj0wO3I8dC5sZW5ndGg7cisrKXtpZih0W3JdLmNvbnRlbnRXaW5kb3c9PT1lLnNvdXJjZSl0W3JdLnN0eWxlLmhlaWdodD1lLmRhdGFbImRhdGF3cmFwcGVyLWhlaWdodCJdW2FdKyJweCJ9fX0pKX0oKTs8L3NjcmlwdD4=
When President Donald Trump announced “reciprocal” tariffs last April, he promised it would help revitalize America’s manufacturing industry.
Since that announcement, employment in the manufacturing industry has been in decline, according to an analysis by the Get the Facts Data Team using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
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The loss of manufacturing jobs coincides with the softening in the labor market, said Josh Bivens, chief economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonpartisan think tank.
There were about 12.2 million manufacturing employees in the sector when former President Joe Biden began his term. By the end of December 2024, near the end of his administration, the U.S. had about 12.7 million manufacturing employees.
A year later, that number dropped by 108,000, according to the latest BLS jobs report. The industry has seen job losses each month since January 2025, but added 5,000 last month.
Manufacturing is a major sector of the U.S. economy and supports other industries. But over the past 25 years, it’s been battered by globalization and policy mistakes that have put pressure on the industry, said Bivens.
During the 2008 financial crisis, the manufacturing sector had steep job losses. Job growth began stabilizing in the late 2010s and held steady through the end of 2019 under President Trump’s first term. However, employment declined again following COVID-19. Since 2000, the sector has lost approximately five million jobs.
Another challenge the industry is facing right now: Trump’s tariffs. According to Bivens, tariffs are currently doing more damage than helping the sector. Tariffs make imports expensive, which also makes manufacturing outputs expensive, making it harder for firms to compete in global markets. Countries can also retaliate and add their own tariffs on their goods.
But Bivens points out tariffs can be beneficial in some cases; however, what he’s seeing from this administration doesn’t show evidence of a larger plan, and tariff decisions tend to be erratic.
Some U.S. states, particularly in the Midwest, have a higher share of manufacturing jobs and rely on the sector.
But more than half of U.S. states had a decline in manufacturing employment over the past year. Alaska had the steepest percentage drop at 6%, a loss of 800 employees. Montana and Oregon followed, with declines of roughly 5% and 3%.
California, Texas and Ohio have the highest total number of manufacturing employees, but only Ohio reported job growth, gaining 8,500 employees over the year. California lost 32,600 employees, a 2.3% loss.
“Manufacturing is still a place where you have a lot of workers without a college degree,” said Bivens. “When they lose a manufacturing job, they’re a little less likely to find a job with equivalent pay and equivalent benefits.”
