Tweet ghim
The USA desperately needs to develop a domestic manufacturing base quickly as a matter of national security. What is missing is addressing the small to mid-size manufacturing base in our country. In order to re-establish a manufacturing base in the US it’s not just the multi-billion dollar corporations like Ford or GM we need on-shoring car production. Our country also needs thousands of small to mid-size manufacturing companies, most of which disappeared due to Chinese competition over the past two decades. When I started my first manufacturing business in the 90’s skilled local suppliers were plentiful. We could source just about anything we needed locally or at least domestically somewhere in the USA. That has all changed now. Even the local sub-contractors source much of their materials and labor overseas, and primarily from China. These Chinese suppliers are typically small to mid-size manufacturing companies, who have literally taken the work away from the USA based middle class business owners and their American workers. What we need is for smaller domestic manufacturers to invest in machinery and facilities domestically rather than source their components overseas. Unfortunately when the tariffs constantly change, and could potentially disappear overnight, very few manufacturers can afford to take the risk of making substantial capital investments which may very well bankrupt them when the tariffs are rescinded a few months down the road. Large companies typically negotiate sweet deals to incentivize new plants.
@elonmusk
as a large domestic manufacturer can confirm that large companies also don’t manufacture their products alone. They typically rely on hundreds or sometimes thousands of sub-contractors which are typically small to mid size manufacturing companies to supply component parts like metalwork, wiring harnesses and sub-assemblies and more. The core competency of the sub-contractor pool in our country has been decimated. It is gone in large part and can’t be re-developed overnight. The skills are gone. Sometimes it takes generations to develop an industry, but just a few years to destroy it. There are specialized skills involved. Specialized training. Apprenticeships. Experience. Specialized machinery and tooling. At the very least, tax incentives and grants should be considered to help develop smaller domestic manufacturing businesses, and to reduce their risk so they can rise to meet the challenge. This could also include incentives to hire and train domestic American workers for skilled labor positions and apprenticeships. How much taxpayer money is pouring into US colleges? How about directing some of that money into actually building our nation? How about funding partnerships with vocational schools and Engineering colleges? Not all solutions come from the top down. Some need to rise from the ashes. We are Americans, and we can do what needs to be done down here in the rubble provided we have support from the top. The American return to manufacturing greatness is still within reach. We can’t let it slip away. We don’t have much time left. Literally our nation's survival depends upon it.
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