Trump brags about manufacturing even though he's killing jobs

Donald Trump made several false claims about the manufacturing sector during Tuesday’s State of the Union address, ignoring the fact that the manufacturing industry has been hurt by his trade war with China.

“We are restoring our nation’s manufacturing might, even though predictions were that this could never be done,” Trump said, in prepared remarks. “After losing 60,000 factories under the previous two administrations, America has now gained 12,000 new factories under my administration.”

Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin alone in fact lost 27,000 manufacturing jobs from January through September 2019, primarily because of Trump’s trade war with China.

According to the Federal Reserve’s Divisions of Research & Statistics, the months-long tariff spat has been “a drag on employment and have failed to increase output.”

In 2019, new orders received by American manufacturers also dropped to a 10-year low and export sales “tanked to the lowest level since August 2009,” according to CNBC.

“This is a classic example of Trump’s broken promises,” David Bergstein, the DNC’s battleground state communications director, said in August. “On issue after issue, he’s broken his promises to the American people. Under his leadership, Americans are seeing increased health care costs, job losses, and [Trump] is only looking out for his wealthy and well-connected friends.”

Despite Trump’s insistence that his policies will instead prompt job growth and fuel the economy, several banks have warned that the trade war will likely hamper job prospects for months to come. Bank of America, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, and UBS have all said the decision to impose a 25% import tax on all goods from China could even force the country into a deep recession.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.