President Donald Trump recently stated that “losing our ability to Tariff other countries who treat us unfairly would be a terrible blow to the United States of America,”and he’s not wrong. With the midterms fast approaching, President Trump’s $2,000 tariff stimulus check will demonstrate to millions of American families that the President’s plan is working. Unfortunately, foreign countries like China and Mexico continue to cheat the system and seek to destroy millions of American manufacturing jobs.
Having served as President Trump’s chief of staff, I travelled with him to communities across America’s heartland that were decimated by foreign countries cheating the system. America’s trailer manufacturing industry is on the brink of similar decimation, as foreign countries like China and Mexico flood the U.S. with unfairly traded imports. Even more disturbing is that the Chinese Communist Party and state-owned Chinese trailer companies have moved trailer manufacturing facilities to Canada to avoid tariffs, so they flood the U.S. with unfairly traded Chinese trailer products from there too.
Upon President Trump’s historic reelection, our great President marked his return with a comprehensive America First trade agenda, including prioritizing antidumping/countervailing (AD/CVD) duty cases. After serving the President, I can confidently say that these commitments are not just words; they are actionable initiatives that are saving American manufacturing. In response to such initiatives, many foreign countries are doing everything in their power to keep cheating American workers. America’s trailer industry represents a prime example of the tens of thousands of American workers that we must protect from this cheating.
From Georgia to Wisconsin, the domestic trailer industry supports over 50,000 American jobs. In my home state of North Carolina, this great American industry supports thousands of good-paying jobs. Many of these jobs are in key battleground states that will decide the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections.
The sad reality is that trailers from China, Mexico and Canada now supply 40% of the U.S. market for van trailers. Many of these foreign trailers are unfairly traded through subsidization and dumping, entering the U.S. at prices significantly beneath market levels. As mentioned, Chinese government-owned companies are even setting up shop in Canada, where they can assemble Chinese trailer parts, slap on a ‘Made in Canada’ label, and flood their products across our border duty-free.
This not only jeopardizes the livelihoods of thousands of hardworking Americans, it puts our national security at risk, by creating a dangerous reliance on foreign products to sustain our economy. Moreover, in the event of an international crisis, we need facilities that can quickly adapt to our military needs. During World War II, trailer manufacturing facilities rose to the occasion and produced high volumes of military equipment. What will we do in a similar situation if all of our large-scale manufacturing has been decimated by foreign cheating?
American manufacturers within the trailer industry are on life support. Many are operating at less than half of their capacity, with companies bleeding out American jobs left and right in response to unfairly traded imports. In fact, the threat of unfairly traded trailer imports is so great that the majority of the domestic trailer industry united to file a historic trade case in November 2025 to save their domestic industry. This momentous trade case, unsurprisingly, has been met with resistance by the foreign countries and companies that cheat the system. Considering President Trump’s trade priorities and all these jobs at risk in key battleground states, it is imperative for the Department of Commerce to initiate its investigation as soon as possible. This historic trade case is not only about saving the domestic trailer industry and tens of thousands of American jobs but will also define the outcome of the 2026 midterm elections in Georgia, Wisconsin and North Carolina.
Across America’s heartland and in my home state of North Carolina, America’s trailer manufacturing industry is still here and still fighting, unlike many industries that have been wiped out due to foreign countries’ cheating. As the Trump Administration enters its second year of this term, let’s continue to practice what we preach, starting with the initiation of this trade case to save 50,000 American jobs.
The forgotten men and women of America who stood with President Trump in 2024 will stand strong with him again in the 2026 midterms if the Administration keeps pushing forward and initiating trade cases that save millions of American jobs. While the left-wing extremists want Republicans to lose Congressional seats in 2026, we will win by supporting the President’s trade agenda and putting American workers first.
Mark Meadows served as the 29th White House chief of staff and as a member of Congress for North Carolina’s 11th District from 2013 to 2020.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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