Despite President Trump’s claims that his administration is making “extraordinary progress in reversing the tide” of offshoring jobs, the facts are that offshoring has continued unabated during his administration. An August 2020 report from the Economic Policy Institute demonstrates a net loss of nearly 1,800 factories between 2016 and 2018 and 740,000 manufacturing jobs since February 2020.
A recent press release from the Machinists Union, one of the largest industrial unions in the U.S., lists almost 50 IAM-represented plants that have closed under the Trump administration, at the cost of almost 9,000 jobs. “We sent letter after letter to President Trump asking for White House assistance in saving these jobs and communities starting soon after he took office,” said Machinists Union President Robert Martinez Jr. in a recent statement. “No responses were received.”
Offshoring has continued even during the pandemic, with about 37,000 workers applying for Trade Adjustment Assistance between mid-March and the end of July.