U.S. Poised For a Manufacturing Renaissance

Leslie is joined by International Vice President of the United Steelworkers (USW), David McCall.
The two discuss why the United States is poised for a manufacturing renaissance, and how we can assure that it happens.

Manufacturing is the backbone of the country, providing both critical goods and good jobs.

While union members have known this for years, the past year and a half drove home on a wide scale how important domestic manufacturing is not only to our economy, but also to our national security:

- Broken supply chains during the pandemic meant shortages of lifesaving personal protective equipment and medical supplies- It also created supply chain shortages in other critical goods like computer chips
- Other factors like the strain on Texas’s electrical grid this winter are also creating shortages of plastics needed for consumer goods, highlighting the need for more resiliency in our supply chains 

The manufacturing sector has been weakened over the years by bad trade policy and lack of attention to meaningful and sound economic growth principles.  
The result of the pandemic caused the sector to fall even more deeply. 
As a result, in the 1st quarter of 2020, Durable Manufacturing production fell almost 10%, and by the 2nd quarter of 2020 it fell by 58%.  In Non-Durable production, during the 1st quarter of 2020, it only fell by less than 1%, but in the 2nd quarter it dropped by 33%.

The Manufacturing sector overall lost 1.3 million jobs in March and April of 2020 (900,00 in Durable and 400,00 in Non-Durable).  Now the U.S. did add 15,000 manufacturing jobs in June, but we’re still down 481,000 jobs from February 2020, which was just before the pandemic struck. 

Despite these struggles, this is a moment of great potential:
- Once the extra federal stimulus money and extra unemployment benefits began in the latter half of 2020, the sector began to rebound
- A recent report from the Reshoring Initiative revealed that more companies are reshoring production, or bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States
- Earlier this month, the FTC issued a rule to crack down on Made in America fraud which will help businesses that are truly operating here
- We also have a President who is taking the need for domestic manufacturing seriously

This is reflected in a number of decisions and policies from the Biden administration:

- President Biden issued executive orders intended to help foster domestic manufacturing growth, including a critical supply chain review that resulted in a number of recommendations that were issued last month 
- He also issued an executive order looking to ensure that wherever possible the government is spending tax payers’ money on American-made products. This is already bearing fruit with new waiver guidance that will help close loopholes in Made in America rules

But some of the most significant potential for revitalizing domestic manufacturing comes from the effort to rebuild America’s infrastructure, especially if it comes with strong domestic procurement provisions.  

The robust infrastructure investment President Biden is working toward won’t just make our communities safer, it’ll support a variety of good, union jobs.  From making the steel that goes into our bridges, to manufacturing pipes for our water systems, American workers are already well positioned to meet our country’s infrastructure needs.

But it’s not just about meeting last century’s infrastructure needs. We also need to invest in things like the fiber optic cables and renewable energy infrastructure – that USW members also make – that will be critical in keeping us connected well into the future.
The bipartisan deal 21 Senators are working on is a good start, but we need to keep the momentum going.

The website for the USW is www.USW.org.  Their handle on Twitter and Instagram is @steelworkers.