Editorials & Other Articles

riversedge

(79,992 posts) Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:35 AM 7 hrs ago

WSJ: The manufacturing boom Trump promised would usher in a golden age for America is going in reverse

The manufacturing boom President #Trump promised would usher in a golden age for America is going in reverse

Levies on imports were supposed to bring back a golden age of U.S. manufacturing. They haven’t worked, so far.

www.wsj.com/economy/u-s-...

The manufacturing boom President #Trump promised would usher in a golden age for America is going in reverse

Levies on imports were supposed to bring back a golden age of U.S. manufacturing. They havenâ€™t worked, so far.

www.wsj.com/economy/u-s-...
— (@oceancalm.bsky.social) 2026-02-04T13:23:52.595Z

Trump’s Tariffs Aren’t Helping
Levies on imports were supposed to bring back a golden age of U.S. manufacturing. They haven’t worked, so far.

By David Uberti

Feb. 2, 2026 9:00 pm ET

After tariffs rose to the highest levels in centuries, the U.S. lost tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs last year. In December, WSJ’s Gavin Bade went inside Detroit to learn why—and meet the winners of the new trade paradigm. Photo Illustration: Ryan Trefes

The manufacturing boom President Trump promised would usher in a golden age for America is going in reverse. After years of economic interventions by the Trump and Biden administrations, fewer Americans work in manufacturing than any point since the pandemic ended.

Manufacturers shed workers in each of the eight months after Trump unveiled “Liberation Day” tariffs, according to federal figures, extending a contraction that has seen more than 200,000 roles disappear since 2023.

An index of factory activity tracked by the Institute for Supply Management shrunk in 26 straight months through December, but showed a January uptick in new orders and production that surprised analysts. The Census Bureau estimates that manufacturing construction spending, which surged with Biden-era funding for chips and renewable energy, fell in each of Trump’s first nine months in office..........

8 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

WSJ: The manufacturing boom Trump promised would usher in a golden age for America is going in reverse (Original Post) riversedge 7 hrs ago OP

I know it not a funny matter.......... Lovie777 7 hrs ago #1

it's a golden age, alright. Fool's gold. tanyev 7 hrs ago #2

"The giant sucking sound" Clouds Passing 5 hrs ago #3

Well who didn't see that coming? Ray Bruns 5 hrs ago #4

And note the source of the story SCantiGOP 4 hrs ago #5

If I was the head of a large corporation, I'd look at this as a very risky time to make a huge investment in the busines patphil 4 hrs ago #6

Bragging sick rapist with delusions of grandeur took a booming economy Justice matters. 2 hrs ago #7

History repeating itsefl again again. twodogsbarking 2 hrs ago #8

Lovie777

(22,218 posts)

1. I know it not a funny matter..........

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:44 AM

7 hrs ago

but I chucked reading the title.

tanyev

(48,854 posts)

2. it's a golden age, alright. Fool's gold.

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 08:55 AM

7 hrs ago

Clouds Passing

(7,402 posts)

3. "The giant sucking sound"

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:31 AM

5 hrs ago

Ray Bruns

(6,085 posts)

4. Well who didn't see that coming?

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 10:56 AM

5 hrs ago

SCantiGOP

(14,679 posts)

5. And note the source of the story

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 11:35 AM

4 hrs ago

Trump can’t label the Wall Street Journal as a Fake News liberal site.

patphil

(8,825 posts)

6. If I was the head of a large corporation, I'd look at this as a very risky time to make a huge investment in the busines

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 12:28 PM

4 hrs ago

Several things:

Manufacturing still needs a lot of raw materials and parts that come from foreign sources.
The tariff's keep changing, so a business can't project development costs.
Foreign nations are fighting back, and making it hard to export what we manufacture.
Labor costs are volatile due to mass deportation of workers.
Trump can't be relied on to stabilize the economic environment for any length of time.
There could be a massive upheaval across the nation due to the whole ICE thing, and it's potential expansion.
We could see our Constitutional Democratic Republic collapse, and with it our economy.

Essentially, it's a time for businesses to stand by and wait for a more certain future before they commit huge sums of money.

Justice matters.

(9,549 posts)

7. Bragging sick rapist with delusions of grandeur took a booming economy

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 02:14 PM

2 hrs ago

left by four years of Biden/Harris resurrecting it from the depths of the pandemic caused by his utter negligence and lies, and he destroyed it like he destroyed his previous ventures in the casino sector with repeated bankruptcies...

77 million morons voted for his "golden-age" con!

twodogsbarking

(17,887 posts)

8. History repeating itsefl again again.

Reply to riversedge (Original post)

Wed Feb 4, 2026, 02:29 PM

2 hrs ago

The Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, signed by President Herbert Hoover, dramatically raised U.S. tariffs on over 20,000 imported goods to protect American farmers and industries during the Great Depression, but it backfired spectacularly, leading to severe retaliatory tariffs from other nations, a massive decline in global trade, and worsening the economic crisis, becoming a symbol of disastrous protectionism.

Reply to this discussion