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American Manufacturers Debunk Fox News Defense Of Trump Tariffs

American Manufacturers Debunk Fox News Defense Of Trump Tariffs

As President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy begins to divide his right-wing media supporters and prompt them to search out scapegoats and distractions, Fox personalities have clung to messaging that the tariffs will ultimately lead to a renaissance in American manufacturing.

However, multiple surveys of manufacturers in recent months show that Trump’s tariffs are making their operations more difficult and expensive. Additionally, experts have said the expectation that the tariffs will lead to substantially higher domestic manufacturing is unrealistic, and may lead to a further decline in manufacturing employment.

Fox claims Trump’s tariffs will help grow American manufacturing

  • Fox host Jesse Watters: “Tariffs can unwind years of bad deals. Americans want to reindustrialize.” Watters also dismissed former Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen saying that the goal of tariffs bringing American manufacturing back is “a pipe dream.” [Fox News, Jesse Watters Primetime, 4/14/25]
  • Fox host Laura Ingraham on skepticism that Trump’s tariffs will reignite U.S. manufacturing: “Simplistic does not begin to describe this level of analysis.” [Fox News, The Ingraham Angle, 4/14/25]
  • Fox Business host Elizabeth MacDonald on media skepticism that tariffs will help U.S. manufacturing: “The liberal media making it clear they are not focused on why it is necessary to bring back American manufacturing jobs.” [Fox Business, The Evening Edit, 4/14/25]
  • Fox host Rachel Campos-Duffy claimed that “the working class are going to benefit from both” Trump’s border security and tariff policies, which will be “bringing the manufacturing here.” She explained, “The tariffs are about cheap labor overseas, and the open border was about cheap labor coming here domestically. … Closing the border means wages that were — the illegals who were coming over were competing for the lower end jobs with Americans. That's going to raise the wage and so is bringing the manufacturing here.” A chyron during the segment read “Trump rolls out sweeping tariffs to protect U.S.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 4/5/25]
  • In the same segment, Fox News correspondent Griff Jenkins argued, “The purpose of these tariffs is to realign the global trade that has been so unfair and imbalanced … while bringing American manufacturing jobs — thousands, tens of thousands of them — back to the U.S.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends Weekend, 4/5/25]
  • Fox Business host Larry Kudlow argued the tariffs plan “makes a lot of sense” because they may lead to more factories built in America, “particularly if we get these tax cuts through as rapidly as possible.” Kudlow claimed, “The United States has been on the short end of the stick — tariffs, nontariff barriers, currency depreciation, you name it.” He added, “Mr. Trump is placing significant tariffs, baseline tariffs, and reciprocal tariffs on nations who are most offensive to us, and if you make their goods more expensive at home, then hopefully Americans will buy America, produce America, build factories in America. That's the plan.” [Fox Business, Kudlow, 4/2/25]
  • MacDonald claimed Trump “is trying to bring back American manufacturing, reignite a manufacturing golden age, ending a disastrous post-Cold War era.” MacDonald added: “History shows [in] President Trump's first term, higher tariffs did not trigger inflation. The stock market boomed due to his pro-growth strategies.” [Fox Business, The Evening Edit, 4/2/25]

Multiple surveys show Trump’s tariffs make manufacturing more difficult and expensive

  • The first-quarter 2025 National Association of Manufacturers outlook survey “reveals growing concerns over trade uncertainties and increased raw material costs.” According to the survey, “Trade uncertainties surged to the top of manufacturers’ challenges, cited by 76.2% of respondents, jumping 20 percentage points from Q4 2024 and 40 percentage points from Q3 of last year. Increased raw material costs came in second, cited by 62.3% of respondents.” [National Association of Manufacturers, 3/6/25]
  • The Hill: “Makers of chemical products, electronics, metals, machinery, foods and transportation equipment all expressed concerns about tariffs” in an April 1 Institute for Supply Management survey. The Hill quoted multiple manufacturers complaining about how tariffs are negatively impacting their businesses. [The Hill, 4/1/25]
  • The Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas’ February Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey showed multiple complaints from manufacturers about tariffs. One business replied that “tariff threats and uncertainty are extremely disruptive.” Another explained that it has “lost business opportunities for production of goods that goes to other countries as a result of tariffs.” A third company cited tariff changes to announce its likely closure. Many other businesses expressed concerns about Trump’s tariffs as well. [Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas, 2/24/25]
  • The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City’s March manufacturing survey also featured multiple complaints from manufacturers about tariffs. One manufacturer was quoted as saying: “The uncertainty of the tariffs is having a direct impact on our business as well as the overall economy. We will be raising prices significantly for our imported products.” Another one stated: “Tariffs may cause problems with the ability for suppliers to deliver product at competitive prices.” [Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, 3/27/25]
  • The OECD manufacturing Business Tendency Survey showed a steep drop in confidence indicators for the U.S. since January. [Federal Reserve Economic Data, 4/15/25]
  • A new CNBC survey of manufacturers revealed that “Trump tariffs won’t lead supply chains back to” the U.S. CNBC wrote in a report on its new Supply Chain Survey that “the Trump administration says a reshoring boom is coming, but most companies that responded to the survey told CNBC that bringing back supply chains could as much as double their costs and that instead a search for low-tariff regimes around the world will commence.” According to the survey, “consumer demand, raw material prices, and the ‘current administration’s inability to provide a consistent strategy’ were cited as key supply chain concerns, in addition to the tariffs.” [CNBC, 4/14/25]

Experts explain why Trump’s tariffs won’t lead to a manufacturing renaissance

  • Cato Institute’s Scott Lincicome: “The Philadelphia Fed's latest (April 2025) survey of regional manufacturers shows that their plans for future capital expenditures have fallen off a cliff since January. Gee, I wonder what happened.” [Twitter/X, 4/17/25]
  • Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal: “Dismal expectations for the economy in the NY Fed's survey of regional manufacturers. Basically every line -- new orders, employment etc. -- is going down, with the exception of prices (received, and paid) which are going up.” Weisenthal quoted from the survey’s summary in another post: “Firms expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead, a level of pessimism that has only occurred a handful of times in the history of the survey.” [Twitter/X, 4/15/25, 4/15/25]
  • Former Federal Reserve chair and Biden Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen: “I don’t understand the rationale for the tariffs. … Perhaps it’s to bring back American manufacturing, but I really think that’s a pipe dream and not something that is likely to be accomplished.” Yellen said, “To me, President Trump is taking a sledgehammer — not only is he pounding our allies with this, but he’s pounding the U.S. economy with this sledgehammer.” [CNBC, 4/14/25]
  • University of Michigan economist Justin Wolfers: “Trump's tariffs made it hard for American manufacturing firms to import critical minerals, so China responded by making it harder.” [Twitter/X, 4/14/25]
  • Wolfers on the April 1 ISM survey: “The manufacturing sector isn't responding well to the tariffs designed to help the manufacturing sector.” [Twitter/X, 4/1/25]
  • Former Labor Department chief economist Betsey Stevenson: “Manufacturing jobs for people are going away due to technology. You can't try to save that industry through tariffs.” [Twitter/X, 4/4/25]
  • American Enterprise Institute Director of Economic Policy Studies Michael Strain wrote, “The president is wrong: His tariffs will not lead to a manufacturing renaissance.” [Twitter/X, 4/4/25]
  • Strain: “These tariffs will reduce manufacturing employment.” Strain added, “They will reduce the competitiveness of manufacturing firms. They will raise prices. They will increase unemployment. They will likely cause a recession.” [Twitter/X, 4/8/25]

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Trump Names Billionaire Defense Investor To Top Pentagon Post

Trump Names Billionaire Defense Investor To Top Pentagon Post

Donald Trump has tapped billionaire investor Stephen Feinberg to be deputy defense secretary, The Washington Post reports. If confirmed by the Senate, Feinberg would be the No. 2 man in the Pentagon, just below Fox News weekend host (and alleged rapist) Pete Hegseth (whose confirmation is in doubt).

Feinberg is the co-CEO of Cerberus Capital Management, which previously owned private military contractor DynCorp. Cerberus has also invested in defense companies—which is a potential conflict of interest, according to experts.

“Having this revolving door of people who sit on boards of major defense contractors and then cycle in and out of the Pentagon is a problem that did not begin with Trump, but is a problem nonetheless,” Matt Duss, executive vice president at the Center for International Policy, told thePost.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported that Feinberg was one of two financiers being considered by Trump for the position. Venture capitalist Trae Stephens, a Peter Thiel ally representing a wide range of Silicon Valley military start-ups, was the other rumored choice.

Feinberg’s nod could be an attempt by Trump’s transition team to assuage traditional defense firms, according to Michael O’Hanlon, a military expert at the Brookings Institution.

“I think what you want is somebody who’s aggressive about looking for new ideas but also appreciative of what works, and I think that’s where Feinberg is mentally,” O’Hanlon told the Post.

The New Yorker reported back in 2017 that just days before the 2016 election, Feinberg gave a $1 million donation to Trump and wormed his way into the future president’s good graces. The million-dollar bet paid off in 2018, when Trump named the billionaire to head his Intelligence Advisory Board.

Feinberg is just the latest billionaire to be tapped for Trump’s historically wealthy Cabinet.

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos.

‘They Work’: Biden Urges Employers To Hasten Vaccine Mandates

‘They Work’: Biden Urges Employers To Hasten Vaccine Mandates

Reprinted with permission from DailyKos

President Joe Biden on Thursday pressed companies to put COVID-19 vaccination mandates into place while the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) completes a new rule requiring companies with more than 100 employees to mandate vaccination or routine testing.
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US-Mexico border.

Biden Cancels Billions For Trump’s Military-Funded Border Wall

Reprinted with permission from Daily Kos

President Joe Biden is cancelling billions in funding for construction of a wall at the southern border that had been authorized by his predecessor, according to The Hill.

Donald Trump had used emergency powers in 2019 to raid Defense Department coffers in order to fund his precious border wall after Congress declined to fully fund the project. Now the White House says some of the leftover funding will be used to help reverse the environmental damage caused by construction of the wall.

"Consistent with the President's Proclamation terminating the redirection of funds for border wall, no more money will be diverted from other purposes to building a border wall," a Biden administration official said Friday. "Today, the Department of Defense will begin cancelling all wall projects using the diverted funds, and will take steps to return remaining unobligated military construction funds to their appropriated purpose as permitted by law."

The move follows on Biden's immediate cancellation upon taking office of the state of emergency Trump had declared at the southern border. In total, Trump had secured some $16 billion for his precious wall, with about $6 billion of it being appropriated by Congress, according to the Associated Press. Now some of the $1.4 billion in funding that had been appropriated for the wall will instead be used to address environmental damage caused by the wall, including soil erosion in the San Diego area and increased risk of flooding in the Rio Grande Valley.

According to the AP, as of mid-January, the government had spent $6.1 billion of the $10.8 billion in work it had contracted to have done. Trump reportedly worked "feverishly" his final year in office in order to complete more than 450 miles of the wall.

In January, following the deadly Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol, Trump traveled to Texas to take one last sad little victory lap on the wall, declaring, "I kept my promises" on completing 450 miles of wall.

Based on the amount still under contract, another 214 miles would have been built, bringing the total to 664 miles.

But President Biden brought that chapter to a close on Friday. Good riddance.

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