Manufacturing Was Set to Rebound. Then Trump Happened.
Rate cuts and the reduction of excess inventory were portending a recovery from a two-year slump, but the election introduced fresh uncertainty.
Manufacturers want clarity on tariffs and tax cuts before they commit to spending.
Photographer: Andrew Magnum/Bloomberg
US manufacturing has been in a two-year slump as interest rates suffocated demand for big-ticket items and excess inventories throttled orders. The good news is that the Federal Reserve has begun to cut rates, and the long period of “destocking” has run its course, which set the scene for a manufacturing rebound.
Here’s the bad news: A new uncertainty is clouding the horizon as companies contemplate the impacts of tariffs that President-elect Donald Trump has promised to apply liberally on friends and foes alike and of policy changes that could slash support for electric vehicles, computer-chip plants and battery production, among other things.