Summary
Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick admitted on CBS’s Face the Nation that US workers won’t reclaim traditional manufacturing jobs under Trump’s tariff-heavy strategy.
While promising “trillions” in new investment, he confirmed that new factories would be automated. Lutnick touted support roles like mechanics and HVAC technicians instead.
Critics cite the tariff policy inconsistency and rising consumer costs.
Market reactions have been severe, with steep losses and fears of trade wars as China and others prepare retaliatory tariffs.
And the factories that arent fully-automated, will be Asian-style sweatshops, with low pay, no benefits, no unions, teen labor, no health/ safety/ environmental regulations, mandated overtime without OT pay, etc.
Everybody who is excited about the “return of manufacturing” is deluding themselves if they think the new mamufacturing model is going to emulate the model that sent manufacturing overseas in the first place.
That’s just it … I think part of the plan (if you can call it that) is to crater the US economy and send everyone out into the streets with nothing … millionaires and billionaires won’t be affected (or affected that much) … once everyone is poor with no choice, no voice, no ability, no money, then you can restart and rebuild an economy built on sweatshop, low pay, even no pay, no benefits, no unions, teen labor, child labor, no health / safety / environmental regulations, mandated overtime with no OT pay, etc
Why go to Asia to get this? … just bring it all to America. No better model of manufacturing than to do everything at home rather than send out business to the other side of the globe .
They’re gonna have a great time building their army of wage slaves, until they find out they have no one left to sell to.
They’re trying to create a consumer economy with no consumers.
Sure, after all, you get to save all that money on shipping from Asia, and all that sweet profit goes directly into their pockets. It might be as much as a 1% increase!
That’s worth destroying America, and the lives of 99% of our population, AND the world economy, for an inconsequential amount of money for people who already have more money than they or their heirs can ever spend.
It’s easier to unionize domestically. Yes, they will start as non-union. But then you can unionize them.
Not to say this is the way to bring them back;; it’s absolutely not. But it would be GOOD if measures were in place to actually bring them back, as they could be forced to provide higher paying jobs