SATISH SHARMA - not just Rotigraphy.: Trump promised to bring manufacturing back by making Chinese goods more expensive. Instead, he made American manufacturing more expensive.

Friday, 24 July 2026

Trump promised to bring manufacturing back by making Chinese goods more expensive. Instead, he made American manufacturing more expensive.

https://x.com/OopsGuess/status/2080419447014383874

Trump promised to bring manufacturing back by making Chinese goods more expensive.

Instead, he made American manufacturing more expensive.

Factory construction spending fell 20%.
Factory jobs fell by 80,000.
Manufacturing’s share of GDP fell from 9.8% to 9.4%.

Meanwhile, Mexican manufacturers are gaining market share using cheaper Chinese steel.

So America taxed China, raised its own production costs, weakened its own factories, and redirected business toward companies still buying Chinese inputs.

Ultimately, manufacturing has not returned to the US.

That’s self-sanctioning with MAGA branding.

This is the most embarrassing part of Trump’s trade war:

You can tariff a Chinese product.
You cannot tariff an entire industrial ecosystem.