Trump’s decision to impose tariffs has sparked a manufacturing boom in the US: Expert
The Made in America push has been a key aspect of Trump's trade policy since his first stint in power. A recent study by the Federal Reserve revealed that U.S. manufacturing production increased by 0.6% in January, the biggest gain in 11 months. This is higher than the 0.4% increase predicted by experts, as reported by Reuters. Steve Forbes, Forbes Media Chairman and Editor-in-Chief, and Liz Peek, Fox News contributor, credited Trump's incentives for the surge during their latest discussion on Fox News.
Under Trump's policies, orders for non-defense capital goods have surged by 7.5%. The immediate expensing of 100% depreciation is driving job creation, wage growth, and overall productivity, particularly concerning AI advancements that are expected to increase productivity in the coming years. Peek pointed out how the manufacturing industry faced a decline during the Democratic government.
"Remember when Barack Obama scoffed at the idea that we could ever bring manufacturing back? All it took was a president willing to impose tariffs, willing to present manufacturers with the appropriate economic incentives to do it. And what do you know? Manufacturing is on the increase. And it's been a long time. I think during the entire Biden presidency, it was on the decline," she said. "I mean, there are some industries like autos which are not as strong, I think, as we'd like to see them. But generally speaking, I think, yeah, I think ISIA record talk today about how industrial production and orders are a big tailwind for the economy for 2026. I think that's happening. You know what? We can get 5% growth this year. We can get 6% growth this year. We'll be a little short of, he'll get 15% growth over the next couple of years," Peek added.
Forbes and Peek further pointed out that Trump contradicted the consensus of 22 Nobel Prize-winning economists regarding economic models. They argued that lower tax rates, deregulation, and incentives have been ignored by these models, which they deem fundamentally flawed, leading to inaccurate predictions. Emphasizing the necessity for a reformation in economics, they suggest stability in the dollar and tariffs could improve the economy and highlight that Europe's economic performance has significantly lagged behind that of the United States since the 1980s.
Speaking about Trump's latest Fed chair pick and the pending Supreme Court verdict on tariffs, they stated, "It's going to be one of the big things Kevin Warsh is going to have to tackle at the Federal Reserve. Those models are fundamentally flawed. And when you have flawed models, you get flawed predictions. Plus, you have the politics as well. Economists are human beings, and they have their own prejudices. And so... They're all left. They're all anti-Trumpers. And that's the way they're taught. Economics needs a whole fundamental revision, reformation. I think it's going to come just because of the results. And the key thing is here, if we get it right on the dollar, that's going to be a big tackle for Kevin Warsh. Get a stable dollar again. And I think the tariff thing, the Supreme Court will rule. And I think actually that'll bring stability because once you have a tariff, it can't change the next morning."
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