The latest spotlight on the crisis in American manufacturing may be on steel, but our nation has traded its manufacturing might for financial gains across all sectors – making the same fateful mistake that has befallen great civilizations throughout history. As a founder, CEO, and advocate for American industrial renewal, who’s building the world’s most advanced, efficient factories to counter China’s chokehold on manufacturing, I can tell you that America has just three years – not 10 – to rebuild our industrial base before falling critically behind.
The vice president and many of the new administration have demonstrated passion for reindustrializing the country and creating a jobs boom that has not been seen in this country for decades.
This is not just an economic challenge – it’s a moral imperative to secure our nation’s future while being good stewards of our resources, which include the people of this great country.
The good news is that American innovation and determination can overcome these challenges. In my own company, we’ve developed systems that can transform someone who’s never set foot in a factory into a highly productive team member in weeks, not years. We pay well, offer equity, and provide meaningful work contributing to national security. This isn’t about replacing American workers with automation – it’s about empowering them with technology to manufacture for America faster and better than ever before, creating new and better jobs along the way.
Likewise, the Trump administration’s commitment to reindustrialization, American manufacturing and our workforce can begin on Day One. To regain our competitiveness, we need the incoming administration to take four broad steps:
First, we must dramatically reform our permitting process for strategic manufacturing facilities. While China can build a factory in months, American companies often wait years for permits. This regulatory burden is crushing our ability to rapidly scale the production of critical components.
Second, we need to level the playing field against China’s predatory practices. This means addressing everything from raw material costs to energy rates to shipping subsidies. These artificial costs squeeze what American companies can pay their workforce.
When Chinese manufacturers can access materials and energy at a fraction of what American companies pay, we’re not competing on merit – we’re competing against a government-subsidized adversary that has been intentionally de-industrializing the U.S. for 30 years. Americans can compete, but not against the Chinese Communist Party making everything from energy to raw materials free. One hundred billion dollars of currently offshored manufacturing business from American companies sourcing in China could return overnight as a result of a more level playing field, creating a jobs boom unlike anything we’ve seen since the ’40s.
Hellbound and Down 