Trump's Tariffs Liberate More Manufacturing Workers from Their Jobs

Yahoo

20-05-2025

President Donald Trump's 'Liberation Day' tariffs and their ensuing market chaos are about to cause hundreds more U.S. manufacturing workers to lose their jobs.
Volvo Group North America confirmed it will soon fire between 550 and 800 workers at its Mack Trucks site in Macungie, Pennsylvania, and at Volvo Group facilities in Dublin, Virginia, and Hagerstown, Maryland.
'Heavy-duty truck orders continue to be negatively affected by market uncertainty about freight rates and demand, possible regulatory changes, and the impact of tariffs,' said a spokesperson for Volvo Group North America to Reuters. 'We regret having to take this action, but we need to align production with reduced demand for our vehicles.'
Josh Siegel, a Democratic state lawmaker in Pennsylvania, told ABC27 that Trump's tariffs have been a 'devastating blow to Lehigh Valley workers.' That is where Mack Trucks remains one of the region's largest employers, but will soon hand out pink slips to 350 of its employees there.
'Workers are not just numbers—they are parents, neighbors, veterans, and skilled tradespeople who built America's backbone,' Siegel said.
The White House has been inconsistent in explaining the goal of its tariffs, which have been imposed, lowered, paused, or outright rescinded at a dizzying pace since Trump rolled them out on April 2.
The tariffs had steeper rates on countries with which the U.S. has a trade deficit, like China, Vietnam, and others in the developing world. Trump claimed the higher duties would force companies to bring manufacturing jobs back stateside to save on costs.
The tariffs have had an inverse effect so far, harming the livelihoods of hundreds of blue-collar workers, whom Trump claims he wants to help the most.
Stellantis NV announced on 'Liberation Day' itself that it was laying off 900 workers in the U.S. after Trump's tariffs announcement. Others followed suit shortly after, primarily driven by market volatility.
The S&P 500 was down eight percent on Tuesday compared to a month ago, which was a week-and-a-half before 'Liberation Day.' The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down the same amount in that span.
A Goldman Sachs report published last week estimates Trump's tariffs will bring 100,000 new manufacturing jobs to the U.S. thanks to shifting supply chains. That is precisely the sort of figures Trump has been hoping to hear, but the White House has not touted the report. That is likely because Goldman Sachs also warns that an estimated 500,000 other American jobs will be destroyed in the process.
Such job losses would be about double the amount Trump's first-term tariffs erased from the U.S. job market, according to a 2021 study commissioned by the U.S.-China Business Council.
The New York Federal Reserve is among those bearish on MAGA 2.0's economics.
'Firms expect conditions to worsen in the months ahead,' it said in its April survey of manufacturers, adding that those businesses showed 'a level of pessimism that has only occurred a handful of times in the history of the survey.'
Ryan Petersen, CEO of the global logistics firm Flexport, said he fears tariffs will cause small businesses across the U.S. to collapse.
'Thousands, and then millions, of American small businesses, including many iconic brands, will go bankrupt this year if the tariff policies on China don't change,' he wrote on X.