Trump Says US Wants to Make Tanks, Not T-Shirts

Letter: The many hurdles of manufacturing’s return

The Trump administration wants to see manufacturing brought back to this country without providing much in the way of support for companies that might even want to see that happen. We haven’t been a manufacturing country in decades, neither hard items nor pharmaceuticals, changing that will require a giant leap. It takes a lot of time and funding for a company to make decisions and plans, find facilities, acquire inventory, equipment, and raw ma…

In Vietnam, exporters tune out Trump’s tariff riffs – and rush to replace the US

The US president’s latest comments are a good sign for textile makers in China and Vietnam. But businesses no longer believe a word he says.

US President Donald Trump said today that his tariff policy is aimed at promoting domestic production of tanks and technology products, not sneakers and T-shirts.

Tariffs Aim to Boost Military, AI Manufacturing—Not T-Shirts: Trump

President Donald Trump said on May 25 that his tariff policy plans are designed to bolster U.S. military and technology manufacturing, not apparel. Last month, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said at a White House news briefing that the administration is focused on “the jobs of the future, not the jobs of the past.” “We don’t necessarily need to have a booming textile industry,” Bessent told reporters. “But we do want to have precision manufact…

Comparative advantage was built on patriotism. That’s gone.

In a recent Financial Times column, economist Burton Malkiel slammed President Trump’s tariffs as economically “foolish,” arguing they violate the supposed universal truth of comparative advantage. He’s wrong — on both the economics and the reality.First, comparative advantage only applies when nations trade goods for goods. Today, the U.S. trades goods for assets and debt. That alone breaks the model. Second, comparative advantage only holds wh…

Donald Trump Torches His Own Tariff Policy with Bizarre ‘No Socks or T-Shirts’ Remark

Donald Trump speaks about tariffs and how he wants to focus on making military equipment and ships instead of using resources to make socks and t-shirts.