Pro: Manufacturing is critical for security,
social fabric
It's one thing to be able to buy a thing at a low price. It's another not to be able to buy that thing at any price at all. And what if that thing you want to buy is food, or medicine?
That's the key issue in President Trump's second term goal of bringing back manufacturing. If a country can't manufacture anything, its situation becomes perilous in times of war, pandemic, or another global crisis.
Trump's focus is on bringing manufacturing home in these key areas: Advanced manufacturing (shipbuilding, autos); Pharmaceuticals; Energy; Agriculture and food; Minerals and materials (steel, copper); Aerospace; and Timber.
Manufacturing decline began in the 1970s and 1980s as companies began outsourcing work to lower wage countries. This dramatically accelerated in the early 2000s when China entered the World Trade Organization in 2001, leading to significant U.S. job losses.
This trend has decimated small and rural communities. The loss of manufacturing jobs, both in management and labor, led to the social collapse of civic and fraternal organizations, country clubs, golf courses, and even bowling alleys, leaving communities with high youth unemployment, increased drug use, and fractured community ties.
