How Trump's tariffs are causing pain for some U.S. manufacturers

After Donald Trump was elected president, Craig Souser was preparing for a surge in business for his Pennsylvania-based manufacturing company, which makes robotics systems used in food packaging.

After Donald Trump was elected president, Craig Souser was preparing for a surge in business for his Pennsylvania-based manufacturing company, which makes robotics systems used in food packaging. Instead, he’s now facing higher costs and falling demand that have caused him to delay investments in his business —and look at adding manufacturing outside the United States. 

“It’s been the most bizarre roller-coaster ride, where our enthusiasm going into this year was sky high, and then it was just like the air came out of the balloon,” said Souser, CEO of JLS, which his family started 70 years ago. “Nobody saw the magnitude of this coming. I don’t know if it was his plan or not, who knows, but it took what we thought was going to be a rebound year and made it really bad. We have some business but it’s nowhere near what we expected. And we’re not alone.”

It's an experience that cuts against one of the stated goals of Trump's policies: Since taking office, Trump has imposed a range of tariffs on imports that's he's said will revive American manufacturing by protecting businesses from cheaper overseas competition and incentivizing companies to move their production to the U.S.

Yet, while some companies, including in the pharmaceutical and auto industries, have announced plans to expand manufacturing in the U.S. following Trump’s tariff announcements, others already making their products in the U.S. say they aren’t feeling a benefit from the tariffs. Instead, the tariffs have led to higher import costs for the materials and machinery they need to make their products in America, as well as falling demand from customers and a climate of uncertainty that have made it difficult to invest in expanding their U.S. operations.   

Since Trump’s tariffs went into effect, manufacturing activity has declined to its lowest point in five months amid higher costs, falling revenue and a decline in exports, according to an April survey of manufacturers by the Institute for Supply Management. Separate surveys by the Federal Reserve also showed a manufacturing decline in several regions in April, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics found the manufacturing industry as a whole cut around 1,000 jobs last month, amid overall job growth.