Post by bot on Jul 23, 2017 19:10:19 GMT -5
President Trump’s “Made in America” Hypocrisy
This week, President Trump launched “Made in America” Week, a themed week highlighting the importance of manufacturing in the United States. While he has promised to restore American manufacturing and adhere to the principle of buying American and hiring American, his record tells a different story. Since taking office, he has taken no action to support job creation or advance domestic manufacturing, and over the years he has made a personal fortune manufacturing goods overseas.
TRUMP’S RECORD ON AMERICAN MANUFACTURING
President Trump has been in office for over six months, and yet he has failed to put forward a single bill to support job creation or domestic manufacturing. His budget would slash investments in research, education, infrastructure, and other areas that would create jobs and strengthen manufacturing here at home. Here’s a look at where the manufacturing sector stands after Trump’s first six months in office:
•Manufacturing average weekly earnings have grown 0.6% during Trump’s first six months in office – only half as fast as earnings in the private sector broadly, which grew 1.2%. [BLS]
•Last month, the manufacturing sector’s share of U.S. employment hit a record low at just under 8.47 percent. [Washington Post, 7/17/17]
•Additionally, forecasters have lowered economic growth estimates for the second quarter of the year as “recent indicators in areas like consumer spending, construction and auto sales have been decidedly less robust.” [New York Times, 7/6/17]
A number of companies are moving jobs overseas, despite Trump’s promises to bring jobs back to the U.S.:
• 270 Companies: “In the first 100 days of the Trump administration, more than 270 separate companies applied for TAA benefits on behalf of more than 10,000 workers whose jobs are moving to another country.” [CNN, 4/28/17]
• Ford: “In a move that highlights the shifting landscape of global auto production, Ford Motor said Tuesday that it would build its next-generation small car in China rather than in the United States or Mexico.” [New York Times, 6/20/17]
• Carrier: “Carrier Corp. plans to eliminate 338 jobs at its Indianapolis furnace factory Thursday — and the timing is likely to raise some eyebrows…The previously announced layoffs coincide, to the day, with the six-month anniversary of Donald Trump's presidency….The terminations are the first wave of about 630 planned before the end of the year as the company shifts work to Mexico. Carrier's parent company, United Technologies Corp., also plans to lay off another 700 workers at a factory in Huntington near Fort Wayne” [Indianapolis Star, 7/19/17]
TRUMP’S HYPOCRISY ON AMERICAN MANUFACTURING
While President Trump talks rhetorically about the importance of domestic manufacturing, he has a long record of outsourcing manufacturing and encouraging the practice to others.
He encouraged outsourcing to students at Trump University, writing in a blog post:
“We hear terrible things about outsourcing jobs--how sending work outside of our companies is contributing to the demise of American businesses. But in this instance I have to take the unpopular stance that it is not always a terrible thing... If a company's only means of survival is by farming jobs outside its walls, then sometimes it's a necessary step.” [Trump University Blog Post, 8/29/2005]
And a number of the products that bear his and his daughter’s names are made overseas:
• Donald J. Trump Collection: Items from President Trump’s clothing line are made in China, Bangladesh, Honduras, and Vietnam. [Washington Post, 7/14/17]
• Trump Home: A number of furnishings sold by the Trump Home brand were made in Germany and Turkey. [FurnitureToday 10/17/05]
• Trump Hotels: Items in his hotels, including shampoo, body wash, moisturizers, shower caps, laundry bags, show bags, pet collars, pet leashes, and bath are made in China. [Washington Post, 8/26/16]
• Ivanka Trump: “The clothing line of Ivanka Trump, the president's older daughter and a senior White House adviser, relies exclusively on foreign factories employing low-wage workers in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China [Washington Post, 7/14/17]
The White House has signaled no indication that the Trump family intends to change this business practice and make their goods in America:
If President Trump is serious about restoring American manufacturing and supporting the creation of jobs, he should work with Democrats to advance our Make It In America plan to create the best conditions for American businesses to innovate, manufacture, and create jobs here in the U.S.