Made in the USA: Igniting the Industrial Renaissance of the United States

Commerce, Consumer, and Monetary Affairs

2025-04-29

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Source: Congress.gov

Summary

This hearing of the Subcommittee on Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs focused on the urgent need to revitalize U.S. manufacturing, which has seen a significant decline from its post-World War II peak of 40% of global manufacturing to 16% today . Experts and members of Congress discussed the causes of this decline, its national security implications, and various strategies for reindustrialization, including technological innovation, policy changes, and workforce development .

Themes

Decline of U.S. Manufacturing and its Causes

The United States' manufacturing prowess was historically crucial, contributing significantly to victory in World War II and establishing the nation as a global economic leader . However, over the last 40 years, the U.S. deindustrialized due to a combination of supported globalization, over-regulation, and obstacles to permitting new manufacturing . This led to the loss of millions of skilled labor jobs, a shrinking middle class, and harm to communities across America . It also created a crisis where the skilled manufacturing workforce is aging out, with few younger workers entering the field .

Impact of China and Global Supply Chains

China filled the void left by the U.S. manufacturing decline, aggressively increasing its global share through cheap labor, including alleged slave labor and poor working conditions, and significant government subsidies . This has created economic, military, and national security threats for the United States, as critical supply chains, including for defense, are now heavily reliant on China . The COVID-19 pandemic exposed the brittleness of over-reliance on globalized supply chains, making basic goods scarce and highlighting the loss of sovereignty over domestic production .

Strategies for Reindustrialization

There is a consensus on the need for an "American industrial renaissance" [ 00:18:34 ] . Several approaches were discussed, including:

  • Utilizing advanced technologies like automation, AI, robotics, generative design, additive manufacturing, and advanced materials to create highly efficient "digital factories" that make American workers 10 times more productive . This innovation aims to leapfrog China's cost advantages derived from problematic labor practices and subsidies .
  • Decreasing unnecessary regulatory burdens, streamlining permitting processes, and ensuring that federal payments to U.S. companies require their entire supply chain to be domestic . There's also a call to create an "even playing field" with China by addressing its aggressive subsidies on energy and raw materials .
  • Creating new, higher-paid, technologically advanced manufacturing jobs that do not require decades of training but can be learned in months, appealing to a new generation of workers . Unionization is highlighted as a way to attract and retain skilled workers, ensuring good wages and worker safety .

Debate on Tariffs

The role of tariffs was a contentious point . While Republican witnesses largely avoided direct endorsement or criticism of Trump's specific tariff policies, they indicated support for policies that would create a level playing field with China or were not directly impacted . Dr. Adam Hirsch, an economist, argued that while targeted and strategic tariffs can be effective, Trump's current broad-based, indiscriminate approach is a "disaster" that will lead to higher inflation and slower growth . Critics also pointed out that tariffs are a tax on consumers and can lead to job losses, especially as many U.S. manufacturers rely on cross-border supply chains for parts .

Tone of the Meeting

The tone of the meeting was largely serious and concerned, reflecting the urgent nature of the topic . There was a shared sense of patriotism and a strong desire among all participants to rebuild U.S. manufacturing . However, a clear partisan division emerged regarding the effectiveness and appropriateness of specific policy tools, particularly tariffs . While the Republican members and witnesses emphasized the negative impact of China's practices and over-regulation , Democratic members and witnesses highlighted the success of recent legislative efforts under the Biden administration and expressed strong concerns about the potential negative effects of blanket tariffs and attacks on worker rights .

Participants

Transcript

Okay.
This hearing on the Subcommittee of Economic Growth, Energy Policy, and Regulatory Affairs will come to order.  Welcome everyone to this meeting.  Without objection, the chair may declare a recess at any time.  I recognize myself for the purpose of making an opening statement.   We are here today to discuss an issue that is becoming increasingly urgent, the future of US manufacturing.  The United States is facing a need that it has never faced before, the need to shake off and reverse its fall as the global leader in manufacturing.   We won the Second World War not just because our generals were great leaders and strategists, and not just because we put so many heroic men and women on the field of battle and in support, but because we manufactured our enemies into oblivion.  The United States held approximately 40%   of the globe's manufacturing in 1941.  After Pearl Harbor, that vast manufacturing power became the free world's arsenal for democracy.  For every German tank manufactured, we produced four tanks.  For every merchant ship tonnage that the Japanese built, we produced eight.  For every aircraft carrier the Japanese deployed, we launched three.
For every plane that combined Axis powers built, we by ourselves manufactured one and a half planes.   Before the war, the U.S.
manufactured less than 3,000 planes, but by the end, we had a force of 300,000 planes.  Overwhelming material was pivotal to our winning the war, and the United States left World War II as the most wealthy and powerful nation on Earth in very large part because of our manufacturing prowess.   Yet, as time marched on and the good post-war times rolled, we began to forget how important our capacity to manufacture and innovate was to making and keeping America great.  And as the Cold War ended and we entered the end of history era, unprecedented globalization took hold.  And in that moment, instead of embracing new technologies or innovating in the manufacturing industry, we sold off our manufacturing birthright to other countries.   A vast amount of what was once American manufacturing was shipped off to foreign manufacturing.  In the end, we lost our manufacturing base.  And that was not just because the US leaders supported globalization, it was also because we over-regulated existing manufacturing and imposed enormous obstacles to the permitting of new manufacturing.
This strangled possibilities for new growth and further encouraged US manufacturers to move their manufacturing overseas.
In the end, the United States share of global manufacturing fell from 40% that it was in 1950s to 16% as a share that we hold today.  We lost millions of skilled labor jobs.  The middle class has shrank and communities across America have been harmed.
Filling the void of the US was China.
China's share of global manufacturing increased at an exponential rate.  China leaned in heavily on cheap labor, slave labor, and suicide-inducing labor conditions to achieve the manufacturing share that it possesses today.  And China's position as the current world leader in manufacturing poses economic, military, and national security threats to the United States.
Nevertheless, there is hope
that we are approaching an American industrial renaissance.  Under President Trump, the United States has the technology, the capital, and the political will to reshore manufacturing stateside.  Congressional and executive branch efforts to decrease unnecessary regulatory burdens and streamline permitting processes will encourage reshoring.  And by adopting automation and artificial intelligence, the United States can and will multiply the economic output of the average American worker exponentially.   Salaries will rise as costs of goods stay low.  Skilled labor and manufacturing employment that was extinguished due to globalization will return.  The middle class will expand again, and we can and will bring manufacturing back to the United States.  And with that, I yield to Ranking Member Frost for his opening statement.
Thank you so much, Mr. Chair, and thank you to the witnesses for being here this morning.   1980s, the United States has faced a decline in manufacturing jobs that has left many workers feeling forgotten and turned away by many once-thriving communities into ghost towns.  Democrats are united in wanting to bring more good, high-paying manufacturing jobs to these communities and making sure America is leading the way in strategically significant manufacturing sectors of the future.   But President Trump's disaster tariff plan, which is estimated to increase costs to American households by $4,900 a year, is not the solution.  During the Biden administration, the Democrats' Made in America agenda resulted in legislation like the Chips and Science Act, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and Democrats drafted this legislation with Republicans in a bipartisan way.   and with the vital input of manufacturing workers, employers, and impacted communities.  This legislation jump-started industry, helping to create more than 700,000 manufacturing jobs in the United States and secure over one trillion in planned investments.  Our country has not seen this much new factory construction in half a century.   This legislation and these investments created during the Biden administration should continue to pay off, creating over 200,000 more jobs each year going forward, assuming no new policies stifle that growth.

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