Adams Nager and Rob Atkinson write in IndustryWeek that despite the prevailing narrative that automation was the main culprit behind U.S. manufacturing job losses in the early 2000s, trade pressure and faltering competitiveness were responsible for more than two-thirds. And rather than entering a “fourth industrial revolution,” U.S. manufacturing productivity growth is now near an all-time low. To revive the sector, President Trump should focus on which jobs can and should be brought back and which are better off overseas.
