President Trump has been widely criticized for his economic America First agenda focusing on tariffs and manufacturing. While waging a trade war with friends and enemies alike, he is investing at home — which the administration is betting will pay off for America. The investment deals with Apple and Open AI for tech manufacturing will continue American greatness.
Manufacturing helps the economy by creating jobs, spurring innovation and creating wealth, but it also helps keep us safe during global disruptions like war or a pandemic, when supply lines are disrupted.
Using tariffs to protect American interests goes all the way back to the founding era. Thomas Jefferson in 1809 said that “the establishment of useful manufacturers in our country” would help “simplify our foreign concerns.” After the War of 1812, Congress passed the Tariff of 1816, designed to protect American interests in “agriculture manufactures, trade, and navigation.”
The self-reliance of the American economy, an abundance of resources, and the natural barriers on either side helped lift America to greatness. In the 1890s, Congress passed the McKinley tariff, on domestic manufacturing, steel and textiles. While the tariffs were high, the protection of U.S. manufacturing would benefit America in the coming generation.
The U.S. economy expanded significantly in the 1900s, and the tariffs helped American businesses maintain a competitive edge. The market boom created jobs and increased wages. When the United States was drawn into World War II, manufacturing helped secure victory.
President Franklin D. Roosevelt, speaking to Congress shortly after entering the war, said, “We must out-produce them overwhelmingly, so that there can be no question of our ability to provide a crushing superiority of equipment in any theatre of the world war.” In the Senate, Harry Truman chaired the Truman Committee, which provided oversight of wartime production. He traveled the country, ensuring contracts were fulfilled and taxpayer funds were spent efficiently.
American manufacturing supplied our soldiers with war supplies, mass-producing tanks, planes and building the largest navy in the world. American innovation gave us the technological advancements needed to stay one step ahead. Some Americans were shipped across the world to fight, others worked in factories, and some worked behind the scenes in research. It was a united effort, and America was uniquely suited to pull off.
The Trump administration’s ideas today are not as radical as they seem. Since entering office in his second term, President Trump has made manufacturing one of his top priorities, aggressively threatening tariffs while luring U.S. business back to America.
Apple recently announced a $500 billion investment, including building an “advanced AI server manufacturing factory near Houston” and another project in Detroit estimated to create 20,000 jobs. This follows an investment in Open AI from January, which is said to be the “largest AI infrastructure project in history.” Together, the deals put America on a path to self-sufficiency and one step closer to winning the technological war being fought in cyberspace.
In his new book, “The Technological Republic,” Alex Karp says that America’s “loss of cultural ambition” has led to diminishing demands in the tech sector; the same is valid for manufacturing. Following the war in the 1950s, manufacturing in America accounted for about 21 percent to 25 percent of GDP; since then, it has dropped to around 10 percent. Meanwhile, China’s manufacturing sector rose to 27.5 percent.
Apple CEO Tim Cook says they are “bullish on the future of American innovation.” We need Apple’s ambition; we need to build at home. We need to invest in America.
It’s not that we need to make everything in America, of course. Rather, we should maintain a balance in manufacturing to secure the needs and interests of our citizens while protecting our sovereignty, instead of outsourcing first and putting America second.
While America blossomed during the Industrial Revolution, we have become stagnant during the Tech Age, and China is nipping at our heels. China has a large manufacturing base and has established international relationships securing resources and markets to feed it.
In the Industrial Age, America was built on steel and powered by oil. Today, in the Tech Age, the economy is driven in cyber space and fueled by rare earth metals. A strong manufacturing base is essential to maintaining economic balance, creating jobs and generating wealth.
To stay ahead in the global tech race, the U.S. must safeguard its competitive edge and ensure its industries remain at the forefront of innovation.
Jeff Mayhugh is the founding editor of Politics and Parenting and vice president at No Cap Fund.
