The only thing that will help manufacuturing is restoring the import tariffs.
And we should lower income and corporate taxes by an equal amount.
You can eliminate all taxes and all regulations and you still can’t compete with chinese labor that is 1/30th our minimum wage.
It was a mistake to lower them in the 1960’s and we have high unemployment and have lost much manufacturing as a result.
You called it the “only thing” while also stating that it’s not the only thing. Don’t forget about scrapping the welfare state.
We can compete just fine with China’s labor pay so long as the economies of scale make things competitive. Focus on quality has to be strong as well.
Initiatives like the one described in this thread are doomed to failure because it’s government trying to create jobs.