President Donald Trump was elected on a promise to revitalize America’s heartland by reviving the manufacturing industry, which has no doubt
"Has U.S. domestic steel production actually increased because of the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports? Barely. In 2025, American steel production rose by just 3%. Worse still, the Tax Foundation estimates that 104,000 U.S. jobs have been lost in relation to Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper.
The Peterson Institute for International Economics has found that every steel job “saved” by the Trump administration’s policies has cost U.S. taxpayers $650,000. It’s unlikely that voters who backed tariffs envisioned subsidized jobs as costly as the salaries of Wall Street executives or big-city lawyers.
The math is brutal — tariffs protect one steelworker for every 80 jobs that depend on affordable steel inputs — such as the automotive, rail, and housing sectors. On the consumer side, Canadian jet ski manufacturer BRP Inc. has cut $353 million from its 2027 balance sheet projections due to the tariffs. Summer adventurers looking to buy or rent a Sea-Doo for the lake will inevitably pay more. The same goes for food that requires a tin can, squeezing domestic suppliers and, perversely, benefiting foreign producers of canned food.
All of this makes Washington’s focus on production rather illogical. Slivers of good news for domestic producers of steel, aluminum, and copper can be devastating for other sectors and consumers.
Affordability is a tricky issue and continues to dominate voters’ concerns heading into the midterm season. The administration seems stuck between its populist promises to revive certain jobs and the reality that this means higher prices on everything from homes to a new tractor. MAGA influencer Benny Johnson put it this way: “Losing money means nothing. Digital ones and zeroes. In the end, you won’t miss any of it. Losing your country costs you everything.”
This is the definition of a losing message. It’s also an economically illiterate one. A 50% tariff is a 50% de facto tax on the raw materials U.S. manufacturers need to supply what consumers demand."