U.S. small manufacturers hope to benefit from tariffs, but some worry about uncertainty

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Drew Greenblatt is afloat connected committee with the Trump administration’s usage of tariffs to rebalance a planetary trading strategy that it says favors overseas companies implicit U.S. manufacturers.

Greenblatt is the president and proprietor of Marlin Steel Wire Products successful Baltimore, Maryland, which makes baskets and racks for aesculapian instrumentality manufacturers, aerospace companies, nutrient processing companies and others. It has 115 employees and makes its products successful 3 locations successful Maryland, Indiana and Michigan. The alloy is sourced from Tennessee, Illinois and Michigan.

Currently, it’s hard to vie with baskets made overseas., Greenblatt says, due to the fact that the countries helium competes against person an “unfair advantage.” For example, owed to European tariffs and taxes, it costs overmuch much for a German user oregon institution to bargain Marlin ligament baskets than it does for Americans to bargain a German-made basket, creating an uneven playing field, Greenblatt said.

“It’s wildly unfair to the American worker,” helium said. “And this has, by the way, been going connected for decades.”

What Trump is doing

The Trump medication has called U.S. manufacturing an “economic and nationalist security” priority. U.S. manufacturing has been declining for decades. In June 1979, the fig of manufacturing workers peaked astatine 19.6 million. By January of 2025, employment was down 35% to 12.8 million, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Small manufacturers, which marque up 99% of each American manufacturing, person been deed peculiarly hard.

The medication has implemented immoderate tariffs against large U.S. trading partners, portion putting a clasp connected different tariffs pending negotiations. The Trump medication says tariffs volition unit companies to person much products made successful the U.S. to debar steep terms increases connected their imports, which volition mean “better-paying American jobs,” for radical making cars, appliances and different goods.

Greenblatt agrees, saying helium could treble his unit if “parity” successful tariffs becomes a reality.

Uncertainty for businesses

While different tiny manufacturing businesses besides enactment the tariffs, different owners person concerns. The Trump tariffs endanger to upend the existing economical order and perchance propulsion the planetary system into recession. And the uneven rollout of the argumentation has created uncertainty for businesses, fiscal markets and U.S. households.

For Corry Blanc, the injection of uncertainty astir the system outstrips immoderate imaginable benefit.

He started his business, Blanc Creatives successful Waynesboro, Virginia, successful 2012. He makes handcrafted cookware specified arsenic skillets and different kitchenware and bakeware with American alloy and wood and employs 12 staffers. He gets his alloy from a works successful South Carolina and a distributor successful Richmond. Wood comes from section determination sawmills adjacent the company’s office successful Waynesboro, Virginia.

He said he’s been fielding disquieted calls from customers successful Canada and overseas. And helium says the infrastructure isn’t successful spot to summation accumulation if much radical bash commencement buying American-made goods.

Blanc said helium survived the pandemic and different pugnacious times, but conditions present are the hardest they’ve ever been.

“There’s truthful overmuch uncertainty and not a batch of direction,” helium said.

Michael Lyons is the laminitis of Rogue Industries, a institution that makes wallets and different leather goods successful a store successful Standish, Maine, with a unit of nine. He uses leather from Maine and the Midwest. About 80% of his products are made successful Maine and 20% are imported.

He said the uncertainty astir the tariffs is outweighing immoderate imaginable semipermanent benefit. A long-time lawsuit from Canada precocious told Lyons that helium would nary longer beryllium buying from Rogue Industries due to the fact that of the friction betwixt the 2 countries.

“Hopefully this volition pass, and he’ll beryllium capable to travel back,” helium said. “But I did deliberation that was benignant of an absorbing indicator for him to scope out.”

Lyons would similar to grow his business, but says, “at the clip being, it’s astir apt going to be, we clasp with what we have.”

Hoping for much American-made products

American Giant CEO Bayard Winthrop takes a much affirmative view. He founded his covering institution successful 2011 aft watching the textile manufacture spell offshore, and seeing a deficiency of quality, affordable American-made clothing. He started by selling 1 sweatshirt, and present sells a wider scope of clothing, mostly direct-to-consumer, but helium besides has a declaration with Walmart.

He sources fabric from Southeastern states similar Georgia, Florida and North Carolina and has a mill successful North Carolia and a associated concern installation successful Los Angeles.

“People hide that successful astir 1985 that each the covering that Americans bought was made successful America,” helium said. “It is lone successful the past 40 years that that we truly pursued arsenic a state a precise assertive attack to globalization.”

In 1991, much than fractional of U.S. apparel, astir 56%, was made successful the U.S., according to statistic from the American Apparel and Footwear Association. By 2023 that fig had shrunk to little than 4%.

Winthrop hopes the tariffs volition bring astir a instrumentality to much American-made products.

“The imbalances betwixt our trading, successful peculiarly with China, peculiarly the textiles, it’s conscionable shocking, to beryllium honorable with you,” helium said, adding that helium hopes Trump's policies "put home manufacturers connected a spot much of a competitory footing.”

Winthrop understands people’s concerns but said it’s important to deliberation longer term.

“Americans are disquieted astir tariffs, and I deliberation there’s a batch of justification for the interest due to the fact that I deliberation the medication tin beryllium volatile and unpredictable,” helium said. But helium added that radical should enactment that aside.

“The thought that we’re going to beryllium much protective of our home marketplace and person an concern argumentation that includes manufacturing jobs is, an aged idea. It’s not a caller idea,” helium said.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.