As I look back on my family’s small paint factory, which once thrived in Long Island City, Queens, I see a cautionary tale about the limits of bringing back manufacturing jobs to the United States. The trend has shifted toward creating high-tech, low-wage industries, and this shift is driven by globalization.
Over the decades, the U.S. industrial base was dismantled, replaced by gleaming skyscrapers, trendy restaurants, and higher wages for service workers. This “creative destruction” has made New York City more populous and prosperous, a process that President Trump seems to be out of touch with.
While relaxing trade barriers helped accelerate the disappearance of manufacturing jobs, it doesn’t mean we should try to revive them. The advantage of manufacturing work has been dwindling as wages in services continue to rise. Additionally, many Americans view classic factory work as unappealing due to its tedious nature and low pay.
The U.S. remains a leader in precision manufacturing, such as airplanes and medical instruments, but our competitiveness relies on high efficiency, which means fewer jobs for the same output. The automotive sector faces challenges in the global marketplace, with Mexico becoming increasingly capable at producing cars at lower wages.
President Trump’s protectionist policies are counterproductive, including tariffs that raise costs and reduce exports. His attacks on elite universities overlook services as a significant export. Our challenge is to ensure Americans are educated and trained for new sectors, leveraging our substantial advantage in technology and artificial intelligence.
The United States can remain a dynamic economy by embracing innovation and creating jobs in areas like semiconductors and chip-making. We must acknowledge that countries with unfair trade practices warrant retaliation, but not at the cost of our economic security or balance of payments.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/06/opinion/trump-tariff-manufacturing-jobs-industrial.html