REP TOM TIFFANY: How Trump Is Leading The Midwest Manufacturing Renaissance

The Midwest has all the ingredients necessary to lead a manufacturing renaissance – rich mineral deposits, vast timber resources, a skilled workforce, and a proud tradition of industrial muscle and innovation. Today, with the right policies and President Trump in office, the Midwest can reclaim its place as a leader in manufacturing and resource development.

For decades, U.S. trade policies have hollowed out Midwest manufacturing towns, sending jobs overseas and leaving American workers behind. American farmers and workers can compete head-to-head with anyone in the world – if the rules are fair. Unfortunately, for the last several decades, they haven’t been.

Since the 1990s, too many Americans have been victims of a calculated trade war, with foreign governments enacting high tariffs and other barriers on U.S. products. These countries then proceeded to flood our markets with cheap and often subsidized foreign goods – some even produced with forced labor.  While other countries have protected their industries, Washington allowed the Midwest to be sold out. Instead of exporting American-made products, we exported family-wage jobs.

The numbers tell the story. While the United States has one of the lowest most-favored-nation tariff rates at just 3.3 percent, countries like Brazil, China, and India impose tariffs three to five times higher on American goods. This isn’t “free trade.” Instead, it was a recipe for stripping down much of America’s industrial sector for parts and shipping it off to Communist China.

President Trump is taking decisive action to change that. By imposing equalization tariffs, he is ensuring that foreign competitors – especially Communist China – can no longer take advantage of American workers. President Trump did not start this trade war. He is just the first American leader in a generation to finally punch back.