Global media focus | Does the United States have the ability to bring manufacturing back?

The US government has initiated a global trade war, betting that taxing other countries will bring jobs and factories back to the US. However, a recent article published by The New York Times strongly questioned this strategy and revealed the enormous challenges facing the return of the US manufacturing industry.

Screenshot of the New York Times report

The article argues that transferring manufacturing from overseas back to the United States may take years or even decades, as the US lacks almost all the elements of the manufacturing ecosystem - workers, training, technology, and government support.

The article takes an American denim company as an example. The company has approximately 250 employees at its factory in Los Angeles, sewing 70000 pairs of jeans per month. At the same time, the company also operates a larger factory in Southeast Asia, where thousands of workers produce 500000 pairs of jeans per month.

Screenshot of the New York Times report

The article states that the high tariffs imposed by the Trump administration have put enormous pressure on businesses, forcing their leaders to constantly think about how much more they can produce in the United States. However, the United States does not have large-scale factories that meet the needs of the industry, nor does it have major suppliers of zippers and buttons. The cost of operating a factory is very high. In addition, there is also the issue of labor force: there is simply not enough workers available.

Screenshot of the New York Times report

According to economists from Wells Fargo, American factories are currently working hard to fill approximately 500000 manufacturing jobs. They calculated that in order to restore the proportion of manufacturing in employment to its peak in the 1970s, it would be necessary to open new factories and create 22 million new jobs. But currently, the number of unemployed people in the United States is only 7.2 million. As Steve Lamar, CEO of the American Apparel and Footwear Association, has said, there is a gap between the "romantic imagination of manufacturing" and the availability of American labor.

The article points out that transferring production from overseas back to the United States also requires significant investment. Looking at this denim jeans company again, it has invested about $150 million in Southeast Asia, which is a long-term investment that will take at least seven years to recoup costs. Ultimately, if the Trump administration decides to insist on high tariffs and businesses are unable to mitigate the financial impact, it will have to seek other markets to sell its products produced in Southeast Asia.