The discussion surrounding tariffs and trade mainly revolves around policies and economics. However, it’s essential to also consider the impact on people from the significant shift of our industrial operations overseas in recent years. Previously, the United States was known for its manufacturing capabilities, and engaging in production and adding value instilled a sense of pride in individuals that is hard to match. When that is taken away, the consequences are often unfavorable.
President Trump recognizes this issue. Regardless of whether you support or oppose his proposals, it is evident that he is striving to prioritize the well-being of the American populace, those who entrusted him with the presidency. He is making efforts to revitalize our manufacturing sector because the repercussions of its decline extend beyond mere economic aspects to affecting people on a personal level.
Watch this:
“They shut right down… and took our jobs and put them over in Mexico… Flint used to be Motor City… Where’s all the motors?”
For decades, these voices fell on deaf ears as Washington politicians sold them out with unfair trade that decimated our industrial base.
No longer.… pic.twitter.com/vSQPvWAIXB
— Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) April 3, 2025
A crucial aspect to consider is the location of production facilities. Where have all the factories gone? They have likely been relocated to countries like Mexico, Canada, or even China. The shift of America’s industrial operations overseas and the subsequent neglect of its domestic industrial capacity come with a significant human toll, a fact supported by recent research findings.
First, from the American Economic Review, a study that shows the impact of a “large and persistent economic shock” on causing “deaths of despair” – in short, suicides. That study concludes:
We document a relationship between a plausibly exogenous change in US trade policy and drug overdose fatalities among working-age whites, helping to explain the alarming rise in “deaths of despair” among this group since 2000. While our findings do not provide an assessment of the overall welfare impact of this liberalization, they do offer a broader understanding of the distributional implications of trade. Moreover, by providing new evidence regarding the effects of major labor market disruptions, our results offer insights into the potential effects of future technology shocks—such as those arising from automation or artificial intelligence—that might lead to similarly sudden and geographically concentrated declines in employment.
Next, from the journal “SSM – Population Health,” a look at drug abuse in dire economic conditions; this study concludes in part:
The positive relationship between trade-related job loss and opioid-related overdose death is well illustrated by Forsyth County, North Carolina. In March 2006, less than a year after the U.S. Congress approved the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement, Hanes closed a knit fabric factory, laid off 610 workers, and relocated production to plants in El Salvador, Honduras, and the Dominican Republic. This was just one of many factory closures in Forsyth County, which suffered 2215 trade-related job losses from 2006 to 2008. An increase in opioid-related deaths occurred following these job losses. From 2000 through 2005, the county averaged only 12 opioid-related deaths a year. Between 2006 through 2008, the county suffered an average of 25 deaths per year, a sudden doubling of opioid-related deaths. The number of annual deaths remained at roughly the same level over the next four years, until jumping to an average of 42 deaths after the introduction of fentanyl in 2013. As local Sheriff, Dane Mastin, explained to the Winston-Salem Journal, “the trend is getting worse in part because the bad economy, job losses and other problems are driving more people to seek escape in narcotics”
This is only the tip of the iceberg. We have sent so much of our industrial base out of the country, and it is costing our people dearly.
