Tariffs Alone Won't Bring Manufacturing Home—Here's What We Really Need

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy challenged America to land on the moon—and inspired a nation to rethink what was possible. That moonshot sparked a decade of unprecedented innovation and investment, laying the foundation for U.S. leadership in science, defense, and technology.
Today, we're at a similar crossroads. But this time, the frontier isn't in space—it's in our factories.
We talk about bringing manufacturing back—reindustrializing America and reducing our reliance on global supply chains. But talk isn't strategy. And neither are tariffs. Yes, deploying them can help U.S. manufacturers compete against the unfair, subsidized trade practices of other countries. But, with or without tariffs, we need to build factories, train workers, and encourage and deploy automation here in the U.S. That will take long-term investment, smart industrial policy, and institutions built to do this work.
The Shrunken Manufacturing Sector
American manufacturing remains a world juggernaut, number two in worldwide production—but we've hollowed out key capacity and we're struggling to rebuild with what's left. As U.S. manufacturing contracted from 25% of GDP in the 1950s to just 10% today, entire capabilities and supply chains disappeared.
While some of that contraction is due to automation, between 1984 and 2018, the U.S. also lost 1,600 foundries and more than 4,400 metal casting facilities, most of that capacity moving to China. These aren't obscure components: cast and forged parts are essential to aircraft, infrastructure, energy systems, and defense. And it wasn't just metal—we pulled back from critical sectors like semiconductors, electronics, and pharmaceuticals, where pandemic-era shortages exposed just how vulnerable we'd become.
Burdensome regulations, high taxes, labor costs, and poor trade policies have driven manufacturing overseas and drained some U. S. of manufacturing capabilities essential for our national security in a predatory global economy. Today, most U.S. manufacturers are small and undercapitalized—struggling to modernize operations, reconnect supply chains, and replace aging infrastructure. And we're running out of workers. By 2030, we'll be short more than 2 million manufacturing employees nationally.
It's time we focus on U. S. manufacturing growth and technology—and fix global trade imbalances by rethinking the policies and problems that got us here. We aren't talking about plug-and-play reshoring. We're talking about a generational overhaul that will require real strategy and sustained investment to push the use of technology, drive the training of a needed workforce, fill abandoned and under-utilized U. S. plants, and build new ones. It's time to create a next-generation manufacturing economy.Bold Moves To Drive Our Next-Generation Manufacturing Economy
Rhetoric won't rebuild capacity. But here are the kinds of decisive moves that could be the backbone of a truly bold industrial policy:
1. A Tariff to Technology Fund
Turn tariff revenue into rocket fuel for innovation. A fixed percentage of every dollar brought in via tariffs should go directly to the small manufacturers they're meant to protect—funding robotics, AI, advanced equipment, and digital upskilling.
Germany's Mittelstand model offers a blueprint, providing targeted funding, technical support, and long-term workforce development for small manufacturers. That's how Germany maintains a trade surplus and leads Europe in industrial automation. We should follow suit.
2. Rapid-Approval Manufacturing Zones
Red tape kills momentum. Let's create 'Manufacturing Innovation Zones', with an emphasis on economically challenged communities. By fast-tracking permits in these areas, U. S. supply chains can flourish, and projects can go from blueprint to breaking ground in 90 days or less. When Austin and Phoenix cleared the way for semiconductor expansion, billions in private investment followed. That's a powerful model to replicate everywhere.
3. A National "Second Chance" Hiring Initiative
Manufacturing urgently needs workers. The 600,000 people who leave the U.S. prison system each year need second chances. We should offer tax credits and training support to manufacturers that hire returning citizens. We should also provide 'negligent hiring and negligent supervision' tort waivers for manufacturing companies that hire ex-offenders, easing legal concerns. In Cleveland, my nonprofit MAGNET (an MEP Center) has helped hundreds of individuals move from incarceration to manufacturing careers—with very low recidivism. That's not just good economic development—it's smart public safety and fiscal responsibility.
4. A Manufacturing Renaissance Prize
America thrives on competition. Let's launch a national prize for communities and companies to innovate extraordinary new business models and technology that enables reshoring and job creation. It's worked before. DARPA's Grand Challenges transformed autonomous vehicle development. XPRIZE catalyzed private space flight. A Manufacturing Renaissance Prize would turn breakthrough ideas into blueprints for industrial revival nationwide. With some imagination, this could become a Manhattan Project 2.0 where the country's best minds are rallied to solve the most pressing, world-changing problems.The Infrastructure To Deliver Dynamic Manufacturing Change
Here's the good news: We already have the infrastructure to deliver on these big ideas. The Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) is built for this moment, possessing the technical expertise and proven ROI needed to execute a new American industrial policy. It's the only national program dedicated to helping small and midsized manufacturers automate, innovate, and reshore production. After all, three out of four manufacturers in this country have less than 20 employees on the payroll.
Yet earlier this year, the federal government tried to cut the program, telling lawmakers it no longer aligns with priorities. Future funding for MEP is still to be determined, but the timing couldn't be worse—now is the time to invest more in foundational programs that facilitate manufacturing growth, not less. If we're serious about rebuilding American manufacturing, we need a strong MEP network and further investments in programs like it. From Moonshots to Machinists: America's Next Great Leap
Winning the future of manufacturing isn't about nostalgia. It's about courage. The courage to invest when it's hard. To retrain, retool, and reimagine what American industry can be.
Tariffs won't do it alone. Neither will tax breaks. What we need is willpower—and a national commitment like the one that put footprints on the moon.
Now is the time to reach deeper—into our communities, our capabilities, and our conviction to build what's next—for manufacturing and for America.

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