Letter to President-elect Trump: Smart Policies to Keep It Made in America

Tags Buy America Infrastructure

President-elect Donald Trump promised he would bring back manufacturing jobs and dramatically alter American trade policy. These promises helped sway voters in key states like Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin, where Trump won manufacturing households by 18 points. As the president-elect prepares to take office the question now becomes how best to restore lost manufacturing jobs, and a new letter outlines multiple ways to do so.

The letter sent to the incoming president by the Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) encourages Trump’s administration to create private sector jobs through infrastructure investment that includes strong Buy America provisions; aggressive use of U.S. trade laws to defend jobs; a strengthened defense industrial base; and tax reform that puts American jobs first.

Said AAM President Scott Paul:

"Our letter offers meaningful ways to advance Mr. Trump’s shared goal of revitalizing America's manufacturing sector. We look forward to working with the incoming administration and Congress as they focus on creating more jobs for our country's makers.

"As our next president knows, there is opportunity on America's factory floors. The manufacturing sector remains a major economic pillar, a foundation of U.S. national security, and a source of millions of well-paying jobs.

"Trump’s administration now has the opportunity to keep this legacy alive. Together, we can Keep it Made in America through smart policy and strong enforcement of our trade laws. By doing so, we may start to see some of our factory jobs coming back – and that is a good thing."

AAM's letter to President-elect Trump cites a post-election poll and the following facts:

Manufacturing facts:

  • America has lost nearly one-third of its manufacturing jobs since 2000 and has shed more than 54,000 manufacturing facilities.
  • The United States' global market share in manufactured exports shrank from 14 percent in 2000 to 9 percent in 2013.

Infrastructure facts:

  • America has 156,000 deficient bridges, an investment backlog of $85.9 billion for our nation’s roads, and $200 billion annually in lost economic activity from inefficient rail transportation.
  • Wasted and inefficient time at U.S. airports accounts for roughly $8.1 billion in annual losses to the airline industry.
  • Nearly 3 in 4 voters (74 percent) say large infrastructure projects, financed with taxpayer money, should be built using American materials and workers.

Trade Facts:

  • Since China entered the World Trade Organization in 2000, America's bilateral trade deficit has more than quadrupled from $83 billion in 2001 to $367 in 2015.
  • Chinese investment in the United States continues to surge, reaching $15 billion in 2015 and expected to double in 2016.
  • Sixty-three percent of 2016 voters – and 71 percent of Trump voters – want strong trade enforcement when China cheats.

Defense Facts:

  • Eighty-one percent of voters agreed that U.S. manufacturing is important because “a strong manufacturing sector is important to our military security."

Tax Facts:

  • More than two-thirds (71 percent) of voters say “reform[ing] the tax code to encourage American manufacturers to invest in new factories and equipment” is at least “very” important. 82 percent of Trump voters agree.

Read the full letter at: http://www.americanmanufacturing.org/i/uploads/resources/AAM%20letter%20to%20President-Elect%20Trump%20Jan%2017%202017.pdf.