Of the “evils” invested on our society, Free trade is far lower on the list that what this author proposes. What is driving American companies to use cheaper labor is the high tax rate on US companies.
It is simple math. Profit = Revenue - Costs. Cost includes cost of goods, costs of overhead, cost of TAXES and cost of Labor. In many companies, TAXES and Labor are both within the top 5 costs of the company. Since there is no alternative to paying taxes, the cost reduction has to come from labor.
So if the intent is to keep American companies American, then you need to lower the corporate tax rate. Lets talk about that first.
In service companies of course but not in manufacturing.
You can't forget the role of the minimum wage, making it cost-prohibitive to hire the least-skilled workers. In addition, the minimum wage incentivizes companies to hire illegal aliens under the table, which also decreases the overhead from social security, medicare, and payroll taxes.
A lot of things need to change to get the economy back up on its feet. Trump understands that. No other candidate apparently knows or cares.