US President Donald Trump told world business leaders on Thursday to manufacture in the United States or face tariffs, in his first major speech to global leaders since returning to the White House this week. … “Come make your product in America and we will give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” Trump said today, speaking remotely to the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland.
“But if you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, then very simply you will have to pay a tariff,” he added.
It’s unlikely most manufacturers will make that investment, since they’ll have to deal with a significant upfront cost, increased running costs and likely counter-tarriffs, all for an ordeal that may well be completely undone in 2 to 4 years. In the meantime US inflation will grow again.
Protectionism is not the main tool that helped countries industrialize, the creation of global trade and particularly deficit spending are to be credited for that. Protectionism is, particularly in the modern age, next to useless.