[By Guancha Observer Network, Liu Chenghui]
On April 29, 2017, the Ames True Temper unicycle factory in Pennsylvania. Trump celebrated his first 100 days in office there.
Eight years later, Trump is reaching another 100-day milestone. However, the factory that once symbolized his dream of reviving "Made in America" no longer exists.
Its production line has moved to China.
"This is a microcosm of the harsh reality facing American manufacturing," Bloomberg wrote in an article on April 29, revealing the poignant fate of the Ames True Temper factory as tariffs triggered by Trump escalated into chaos.
The article pointed out that despite repeated claims by the US government to "revitalize American manufacturing," actual job growth has been limited, lagging far behind the overall labor force growth rate. Issues such as corporate offshoring, automation replacing jobs, cumbersome approval procedures, and insufficient infrastructure remain unresolved. Tariffs, which Trump pinned high hopes on, are unlikely to reverse the decades-long trend of industrial migration away from the United States.
The Ames factory in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, with nearly 150 years of production history, traces its toolmaking heritage back to 1774. The factory once supplied shovels to George Washington's army and the Rushmore Mountain sculptors, and its unicycles helped build the Hoover Dam. For Trump, this was clearly an ideal stage to promote his plan to "revitalize American factory employment."
The Ames True Temper factory in 2017 before it closed. Bloomberg
"We believe in 'Made in America,' and its return has been stronger, better, and faster than I expected," Trump told reporters at a makeshift desk in the factory workshop. With cabinet members and employees present, Trump signed two executive orders. Less than a year later, his first tariff policies were officially implemented.
On April 29 of this year, Trump is about to mark the first 100 days of his second term. At this moment, he has reignited a round of tariff wars and continues to push his manufacturing repatriation plan, which has already caused market turmoil and concerns over economic recession.
As for this Ames factory, it no longer exists.
In 2023, its private equity company, Griffon Group, closed the factory that once accounted for 85% of the US unicycle market, relocating production overseas. Two factories in Pennsylvania were forced to shut down, resulting in the loss of more than 250 jobs. The company described this as part of its "global procurement" strategy during its earnings conference call.
Today, when you enter a store, True Temper unicycles are prominently labeled as "Made in China."
Bloomberg noted that while unicycles account for only a tiny fraction of the $30 trillion US economy, the closure of the Harrisburg Ames factory serves as a microcosm of the harsh economic reality plaguing American manufacturing—many companies, especially since Trump's latest tariffs went into effect, have faced increasing difficulties.
Although the idea of the United States having the ability to produce key goods (from semiconductors to steel) enjoys broad support, there is still no consensus on how to achieve this goal.
Trump may one day prove that the "tariff magic" he advocates can indeed bring jobs back to the US. However, history and economics are not on his side. Moreover, as he tries to coerce (or occasionally cajole) manufacturers to expand domestic production, he faces increasing obstacles, largely due to his own policies. Tariffs only add to the operational challenges businesses already face, including labor shortages, insufficient grids, and bureaucratic red tape.
Trump’s unexpected trade policies during his first 100 days in office have made things even more difficult. From major companies like Ford and Tesla to small family-owned shops, more than 1,100 companies have applied for exemptions to avoid tariffs on Chinese imports.
"Frankly, I think manufacturers are very concerned about tariffs," said Jay Timmons, president and CEO of the National Association of Manufacturers.
Recent close monitoring by the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve Banks of manufacturing activity shows: production decline, reduced working hours, and factory managers generally hold pessimistic views about the future.
The Ames unicycle factory in Pennsylvania before it closed in 2017. Bloomberg
However, the White House remains unconcerned about these weak signals, instead touting over $1.6 trillion in corporate investments announced by Apple, Hyundai, Nvidia, and others since Inauguration Day, as well as recent manufacturing job growth data.
In fact, the investments touted by the White House remain mere verbal commitments, and job growth has been modest. In the first three months of this year, the number of people employed in manufacturing across the country increased by just 4,000, less than 0.1% of the industry's 12.8 million workforce.
By March of this year, the number of people employed in US factories was 430,000 higher than when Trump took office in January 2017. However, the 3.5% growth over the past eight years is less than half the overall labor force growth rate during the same period. Moreover, the number of people working in factories is still nearly 7 million fewer than at its peak in 1979.
The report argues that this issue is not solely caused by Trump. Biden boasts about the wave of factory construction spurred by Democratic legislation aimed at stimulating investment in semiconductor foundries and factories producing electric vehicles and batteries. However, last year, more than 100,000 manufacturing jobs were lost in the United States.
Even some of Trump's supporters doubt whether he can reverse this decades-old trend.
"I applaud Trump for dreaming of restoring dignity to people," Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel Investment Group, said to the audience at Stanford University Business School on April 25. "But these jobs will not come back to the United States."
There are many other reasons for the offshoring of American manufacturing besides labor costs. Factory automation has improved productivity. Electric vehicles have fewer moving parts than traditional cars, and these factories hire fewer workers.
The problem is not just about bringing jobs back. Many economists predict that Trump's extreme tariff policies will trigger an economic shock domestically and globally almost immediately. In the long run, these policies may make the US more isolated and reduce its competitiveness.
Ryan Unger, president and CEO of the Harrisburg Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the departure of the Ames factory came as a surprise to local officials and dealt a significant blow to the local economy. "You never want to see a company leave your region."
“I wish we could consider reducing tariffs on Chinese machinery so we could build factories,” said Brian Beyer, co-founder and CEO of Pittsburgh startup Hellbender. “This is one of the things that deeply troubled me when I carefully studied tariff policies. I thought we would get some exemptions for manufacturing equipment.”
Trump's policies are also affecting Hellbender's profits in other ways. Currently, some of the company's customers have canceled orders because they can no longer afford the cost of importing Chinese components and cannot find domestic alternatives.
Now, at the old site of the Ames factory, the factory signs are gone, and all that remains are a few dozen scattered Ames brand trailers, the only trace of the factory that once stood there.
Ryan Unger, president of the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce, said that over the past eight years, jobs have been continuously lost here, making Trump's call at the event in 2017 sound more like an ominous omen than a hopeful promise: "We've only just begun."
This article is an exclusive piece by the Guancha Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.
Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7498766371740746291/
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