Tariff policies drag down further contraction of the US manufacturing industry

New York, February 4 (Xinhua) -- The Wall Street Journal recently reported that US President Trump had promised that a manufacturing boom would bring the United States into a "golden age," but the situation was exactly the opposite. Affected by tariff policies, the US manufacturing industry has further shrunk and the number of employees continues to decrease. The article summary is as follows:

Federal government data shows that in the eight months following the Trump administration's announcement of the so-called "Liberation Day" tariff plan, manufacturers have been laying off workers every month, exacerbating the shrinking trend of over 200000 jobs disappearing since 2023.

For decades, the outward migration of American manufacturing companies and the hollowing out of the manufacturing industry have been important reasons for the continuous decline of this industry. At the same time, due to the impact of tariff policies, many companies in the industry have high costs of purchasing raw materials from overseas, which has forced them to raise prices or hindered their production and supply chain networks.

Howard Waltz, the head of Insteel Industries in North Carolina, stated that due to the impact of steel tariffs, the company is finding it increasingly difficult to obtain the required metals from American suppliers. Due to the shortage of domestic raw materials, our growth may be affected

NN, a metal parts manufacturer headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, operates 23 factories in six countries and has reduced its workforce in the United States in recent years. Harold Bevis, CEO of NN Corporation, said that import taxes have pushed up the cost of steel and aluminum, exacerbating the pressure brought by the soaring prices of gold and silver markets, which are used in some of the company's products.