ICYMI: “Trump’s Tariffs Are Lifting Some U.S. Manufacturers”

President Donald J. Trump’s relentless pursuit of an American manufacturing renaissance is “boosting demand for some U.S.-made goods, with smaller players reaping the early benefits,” writes The Wall Street Journal, as companies onshore production and buy their products in America.

Here are a few examples from the story:

• “‘We are swamped. We are running 24 hours a day, seven days a week in both Chicago and Cleveland,’ said Jack Schron, president of Jergens Inc., which makes manufacturing tools, including industrial screwdrivers, clamps and hoists. Schron said his factories in Ohio and Illinois are ‘going like gangbusters,’ partly owing to new orders from customers looking to avoid paying import tariffs.”
• “Donny Chaplin, president of Grand River Rubber & Plastics in Ashtabula, Ohio, said he has seen a rush of new inquiries and orders. Two previous customers that had switched to Chinese suppliers a few years ago came back in recent days wanting to buy rubber gaskets from Grand River again, for the plastic pails they manufacture. Three manufacturers of oil filters also got in touch, wanting to shift business from China, with two already placing orders. All together, the new business will be worth about $5 million a year if it is completed, or roughly 10% of Grand River’s revenue. That might require the company to hire new employees and expand production lines.”
• “The tariffs are a lifeline for the U.S. companies that sprang up during the Covid-19 pandemic to produce face masks, rubber gloves and other personal protective equipment, after shipments from Asia declined. The companies struggled in the pandemic’s aftermath, when hospitals and clinics abandoned U.S. manufacturers and returned to lower-cost suppliers in China, U.S. executives said. But new U.S. tariffs on rubber gloves from China have doubled the price from a few months ago, and ‘the folks that are relying on China are scrambling for other sources,’ said Alan Rust, chief growth officer for SafeSource Direct … ‘We were getting stiffed for a very long time, but just recently we’ve been getting a lot more inquiries.’”
• “Employees for Massachusetts-based AccuRounds are working overtime to accommodate rising orders for the company’s shafts, valves and other steel components. The company recently added two customers that had shifted business from AccuRounds to suppliers in Singapore and China in recent years. First-quarter sales were 20% higher from a year earlier, said Chief Executive Michael Tamasi.”
• “Michigan-based Whirlpool, which assembles 80% of its U.S. appliances at domestic factories, says its Asian competitors have had an unfair advantage, as they manufacture their appliances overseas but haven’t been paying import tariffs on them since 2023, when one imposed during Trump’s first term expired. Those rivals’ access to cheaper components and steel in Asia helps give them a $150 retail price advantage on washers, Whirlpool says. Chief Executive Marc Bitzer said the latest tariffs on imported assembled appliances should help close the price gap. ‘The tariffs will finally help create a level playing field for Whirlpool,’ he said in April during a call with analysts.”

Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports:

• “At the local Excel Dryer plant, William Gagnon, the chief operating officer, is unfazed. In fact, President Donald Trump’s import taxes so far have been nothing but good news for one of the world’s largest makers of restroom hand dryers. Gagnon, 48, credits Trump’s first-term tariffs with changing the math on production location decisions … the president’s second-term ‘reciprocal’ tariffs might result in the elimination of trade barriers that prevent Excel’s high-velocity hand dryers from dominating markets in countries such as Brazil and Australia … By making foreign goods more expensive, the import taxes make domestic suppliers more competitive while also discouraging Americans from purchasing cheap Chinese copies of Excel’s hand dryers. The tariffs also offer hope of prying open foreign markets … The tariffs Trump imposed on China this year also have brought more work home for one of Excel Dryer’s local suppliers: Double A Molding in Monson, Massachusetts … As Trump escalated his trade spat with China in recent weeks, Double A felt the effects.”