Source: spiked
by Tom Bailey
“By 2020, China accounted for almost 30 per cent of global manufacturing output vs America’s 17 per cent. As useful as America’s immense power over the global financial system is, the relative decline of its industrial strength compared with its primary geopolitical competitor is a major source of weakness. … Trump brought this to the fore of American politics. His 2016 election campaign tapped into the social dysfunction wrought by the decline of manufacturing, while his attitude and rhetoric toward China was driven by a sense of loss of national power. Policy, however, was light. … the industrial revival didn’t really get going until the election of Joe Biden. While the Biden administration kept, and expanded, tariffs on China, it was its explicit turn to industrial policy that changed the trajectory. … Meanwhile, Trump’s tariffs have likely already led to shedding of US manufacturing jobs.” (02/19/26)