{"id":132572,"date":"2025-04-05T13:36:55","date_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/will-trumps-tariffs-restore-manufacturing-the-answer-may-not-be-simple-or-quick-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2025-04-05T13:36:55","modified_gmt":"2025-04-05T13:36:55","slug":"will-trumps-tariffs-restore-manufacturing-the-answer-may-not-be-simple-or-quick-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/will-trumps-tariffs-restore-manufacturing-the-answer-may-not-be-simple-or-quick-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"Will Trump's tariffs restore manufacturing? The answer may not be simple \u2014 or quick – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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President Trump has claimed that the escalating trade war<\/a> \u2014 which he intensified Tuesday with\u00a0broad tariffs against America\u2019s major trade partners<\/a>\u00a0that have sent the\u00a0stock market plummeting<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 will spur companies to forgo foreign goods and return manufacturing to American shores<\/a>. But data suggests that the U.S. economy is not ready for a wholesale shift to manufacturing and that it would take years to ramp up production capabilities.
Data shows a fraction of people in the United States are employed by farms and factories compared with decades past, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, with most now in service jobs such as software, finance and health care. And experts say focusing on domestic goods production could cost consumers while undermining America\u2019s growing advantage in the knowledge economy.
In the 1970s, 1 in 5 U.S. workers worked in manufacturing. Today, it\u2019s closer to 1 in 12.
Even with unlimited funding and political will, it takes years to reskill a labor force and rebuild infrastructure. Formal\u00a0trade apprenticeships typically require four years<\/a>, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. And Intel estimates\u00a0building semiconductor fabrication plants takes three to four years to complete<\/a>.
Policy uncertainty is another major barrier. Companies hesitate to make long-term investments when trade policies could change within months or less.
Companies \u201cwon\u2019t even start trying to hire and train people until they are convinced that there are permanent tariffs,\u201d said Richard Mansfield, an economist at the University of Colorado Boulder. Instead of boosting domestic production, he said, it is likelier that companies will raise prices, find alternative suppliers \u2014 Vietnam, Chile \u2014 or both.
That played out during Trump\u2019s first term when, under the threat of tariffs,\u00a0companies moved production from China to Mexico<\/a>.
Dennis Hoffman, an economist at Arizona State University, framed the tariff impact more bluntly: \u201cYou end up hurting consumers across the entire United States.\u201d
Meanwhile, a focus on producing goods overlooks another reality: America holds a global advantage in exports of services\u00a0driven by business, travel and intellectual property<\/a>.
The United States\u2019 $25.2 billion services surplus is often hidden by its $156.7 billion goods deficit.
Tariffs ignore that economic reality, leaving consumers with higher prices for basic goods and less to spend in the areas in which our economy excels, Hoffman said: Cheap goods mean \u201cmore money to save, to invest, to allocate elsewhere \u2014 we\u2019re far better off because of access to international trade.\u201d
Deficits are not necessarily negative. \u201cIf you run a trade deficit, you\u2019re not a loser,\u201d Hoffman said. \u201cWe run trade deficits because we consume \u2014 our appetite for consumption is greater than our capacity to produce.\u201d
As countries progress and grow wealthier, manufacturing tends to represent less of their economies, Hoffman said.
Data from Our World in Data shows that while the manufacturing output of lower-income nations around the world increased from 2004 to 2020, higher-income countries went in the opposite direction.
From cutting-edge software development to innovative financial products, knowledge economy work often offers better wages and working conditions than traditional manufacturing.
Hoffman, who grew up in Michigan and witnessed manufacturing\u2019s 1970s heyday, said that while such factory jobs were good for \u201ctheir time,\u201d they were dirty, dangerous and physically demanding.
Today\u2019s service economy, he said, creates different but superior opportunities: \u201cIt\u2019s less wear and tear on the body, you\u2019re able to work longer, you\u2019re able to earn a good living.\u201d
Jasmine Cui is a reporter for NBC News.
© 2025 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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ProfileSectionsLocaltvFeaturedMore From NBCFollow NBC News news AlertsThere are no new alerts at this timePresident Trump has claimed that the escalating trade war \u2014 which he intensified Tuesday with\u00a0broad tariffs against America\u2019s major trade partners\u00a0that have sent the\u00a0stock market plummeting\u00a0\u2014 will spur companies to forgo foreign goods and return manufacturing to American shores. But data suggests […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":132573,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-132572","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-us","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132572","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132572"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132572\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132573"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132572"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132572"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132572"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}