U.S. President Donald Trump vowed to usher in a golden age of American manufacturing as he began his second term, but manufacturing indicators instead appeared weak, with factory groundbreakings declining.
On the 4th (local time), according to the Financial Times (FT) in the United Kingdom, U.S. private manufacturing institutional sector expenditure on construction was about $15.2 billion (about 24 trillion won) as of April. That is down about 16% since January last year, when the second Trump administration launched. Over the same period, manufacturing jobs fell by 77,000.
In particular, FT estimates show that although about 84 corporations pledged investments totaling about $900 billion (about 1,392 trillion won) to expand U.S. manufacturing after the start of Trump's second term, investment in new plant construction declined instead. Despite tariff impositions and pressure on corporations, the manufacturing revival has not delivered as much as expected.
FT said, "These figures show that a manufacturing revival is not easy even though President Trump pressured corporations to build plants in the United States."
Didi Caldwell, CEO of Global Location Strategies, which helps select factory sites, said, "Investment announcements are merely plans that corporations said they 'will' do," adding, "Money actually spent is reality. There are no signs of a manufacturing revival in the United States."
The industry and experts are largely negative as well. Diane Swonk, chief economist at global consulting firm KPMG, said manufacturing output inched up early this year, but there are few signs that the trend of manufacturing job losses due to automation and overseas competition will reverse.
Chris Williamson, chief economist at S&P Global, also said, "The recent increase in manufacturing output owes more to inflation and domestic and international geopolitical uncertainty than to a recovery in confidence," adding, "A substantial portion of the growth is due to inventory building." He went on, "Corporations stockpiled inventories out of concern about shortages and price increases from a prolonged war with Iran."
Katie Farmer, CEO of railroad corporation BNSF, likewise said, "A golden age has arrived in certain raw material segments such as steel," but added, "Growth is completely stalled in other industries," and evaluated, "Corporations are sitting on the sidelines because of uncertainties such as tariffs."
According to FT, in Indiana, one of the regions with the highest share of manufacturing jobs in the United States, some new projects have moved forward and some producers benefited from tariff policy, but most local businesspeople noted that the recovery is proceeding slowly and unevenly. That assessment is far from the rapid, short-term boom the White House promised.
The outlook ahead is not bright either. That is because manufacturing jobs could shrink further as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics spread. KPMG's Swonk said modern manufacturing plants require far fewer workers due to automation, adding, "No single facility can make up for the tens of thousands of jobs that disappeared over decades."
The White House, however, offered the opposite assessment. White House deputy spokesperson Kushi Desai noted that industrial production and core capital goods orders are rising and countered, "The Trump administration is moving toward a manufacturing golden age through targeted tariffs, rapid deregulation, and investment-friendly tax cut policies."