More fear mongering. Trump is using tariffs as leverage in negotiations with foreign countries. The US is the single largest market for goods produced in foreign countries and they can ill afford to lose their market share or engage in a tariff war that they will certainly lose. Even if the tariffs remain in place, domestic production will soon fill the void left by foreign imports.
” Even if the tariffs remain in place, domestic production will soon fill the void left by foreign imports.”
With all due respect, that’s nonsense.
First, the cost of producing simple products like apparel is vastly more expensive (by a factor of 3-to-4 times) domestically, so that a 20 or 25% tariff won’t make Lands End switch sources from Sri Lanka to North Carolina.
Second, corporations won’t make multi-billion dollar decisions about capital allocation based on trade wars. Aside from the magnitude of the capital required to on-shore production, there’s the simple fact that building an appliance factory in Marietta or Elko would take years, by which time the trade war will be a distant memory. We will never see a resurgence in US appliance manufacturing.