 |
| BMW employs 11,000 people at its 8 million square- foot campus in Spartanburg, S.C. (BMW photo) |
Adolphus Jones worked at a mill in the small town of Union, S.C. Medina writes, "Jones, now 71 and retired, scoffed at President Trump’s vision of an American manufacturing revival through tariffs. The mill work had paid little, Jones recalled, and upward mobility was nonexistent." Jones told him, “The textile industry is dead. Why would you want to bring it back here? Truthfully, why would the younger generation want to work there?”
The Trump administration's push to bring back an industry few residents miss represents a mismatch between current economic realities and the limits of what tariffs can accomplish. "Today, companies like BMW and Michelin — from Germany and France — are the economic engines of the region," Medina explains. "Now, leaders say that waging a trade war could undermine future recruitment of international investments and risk losing the jobs that are already in the region."
BMW alone "has invested more than $14.8 billion into its South Carolina operations" and has created "most than 11,000 jobs." BMW's suppliers have created thousands of additional jobs in the region.
So, local residents were baffled "when the White House’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, attacked BMW’s manufacturing process in an interview . . .," Medina reports. "He told CNBC that 'this business model where BMW and Mercedes come into Spartanburg, S.C., and have us assemble German engines and Austrian transmissions — that doesn’t work for America. It’s bad for our economics.'"
Even in Union, a rural area with 8,000 residents, a recovery from textile's downfall has slowly evolved. Medina writes, "Union County has successfully recruited renewable power companies, bioscience and medical employers, and a Dollar General distribution center that employs nearly a thousand people."
Some Union residents think a more modern mill might further improve Union's economy. Leroy Spencer, a retiree in Union, told Medina, "If Trump can bring that back, it would be amazing, and I think the economy would pick up around here and get better." However, building new mills with automation and modern equipment would mean ordering machinery and supplies from overseas, which will likely face higher tariffs and thereby increase construction costs.
Jones sees the "whole tariff back and forth as baffling," Medina writes. "When he worked in a plant decades ago, he made tassels for graduation caps. Now, he says, more of Union’s next generation should be wearing those caps — not making them."
So, local residents were baffled "when the White House’s top trade adviser, Peter Navarro, attacked BMW’s manufacturing process in an interview . . .," Medina reports. "He told CNBC that 'this business model where BMW and Mercedes come into Spartanburg, S.C., and have us assemble German engines and Austrian transmissions — that doesn’t work for America. It’s bad for our economics.'"
Even in Union, a rural area with 8,000 residents, a recovery from textile's downfall has slowly evolved. Medina writes, "Union County has successfully recruited renewable power companies, bioscience and medical employers, and a Dollar General distribution center that employs nearly a thousand people."
Some Union residents think a more modern mill might further improve Union's economy. Leroy Spencer, a retiree in Union, told Medina, "If Trump can bring that back, it would be amazing, and I think the economy would pick up around here and get better." However, building new mills with automation and modern equipment would mean ordering machinery and supplies from overseas, which will likely face higher tariffs and thereby increase construction costs.
Jones sees the "whole tariff back and forth as baffling," Medina writes. "When he worked in a plant decades ago, he made tassels for graduation caps. Now, he says, more of Union’s next generation should be wearing those caps — not making them."
No comments:
Post a Comment