Big League Jobs: Apple and Wal-Mart Become the Latest U.S. Manufacturers to Commit to Trump’s “Buy American and Hire American” Mandate

By Neil A. Carousso

Apple, Inc. and Wal-Mart Stores made major jobs announcements including billions in investments in U.S. manufacturing that President Donald J. Trump touted at The White House Wednesday evening.

LCD maker and Apple-supplier Foxconn announced the building of a new large, state-of-the-art U.S. manufacturing plant in Southeast Wisconsin on Wednesday that is expected to be completed by 2020. This is a nod to President Trump’s​ promised pro-jobs and pro-growth economic agenda that he is pressuring Congress to pass this year.

 
The facility will employ 3,000 Americans “at a minimum” with the potential of 13,000 new jobs. Taiwanese tycoon and Foxconn Founder and Chairman Terry Gau is making an initial investment of $10 billion in American manufacturing.

“If I didn’t get elected, [Gau] definitely would not be spending $10 billion,” said President Trump, which was met with Gau’s affirmation and a pat on the Chief Executive’s arm.

Wisconsin went red for Mr. Trump in November – the first time a Republican presidential candidate won the Badger State since Ronald Reagan won his re-election in 1984.

Among those in attendance, President Trump and Gau were joined by Chief of Staff Reince Priebus, Senior Advisor Jared Kushner, Assistant to the President Reed Cordish, Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker in the East Room of The White House. Speaker Ryan and Gov. Walker both represent Wisconsin. Priebus is the former chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin.

Cook announced in April that the iPhone maker is planning to create a $1 billion investment fund in U.S. companies that perform advanced manufacturing with details to follow this summer.

Wal-Mart proposed 10 policy actions on Wednesday to boost U.S. manufacturing that the retailer said could help recapture $300 billion of the $650 billion worth of consumer goods that are currently imported. Its plan will create an estimated 1.5 million new jobs in the United States.

Wal-Mart cited several barriers to its manufacturing growth in the country, including complex bureaucratic regulations that create high compliance costs and legal risks and the need for tax reform that President Trump has been promised through his agenda and Congress once said would come before the August recess. The world’s largest retailer also said poor trade deals prevent its growth in the nation.

The Chief Executive has railed against one-sided trade deals with countries like Mexico, Canada and China, and international deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA); Mr. Trump has made progress since January.

President Trump withdrew from the TPP shortly after his inauguration. The President is in the midst of negotiations of NAFTA and announced at Tuesday night’s “Make America Great Again Rally” in Youngstown, OH that he will scrap the deal if he cannot improve the agreement with America’s neighbors in favor of U.S. workers.

Since President Trump took office 6 months ago, over one million jobs have been created, including 41,000 manufacturing jobs. Further, $4.1 trillion of wealth has been created in the U.S. under Trump with investments in American markets at all-time highs.

Manufacturing Job Gains/Losses by Month under @POTUS:
•Feb: +22,000
•Mar: +11,000
•Apr: +9,000
•May: -2,000
•June: +1,000 https://t.co/xqFD0AdEsJ

— Neil A. Carousso (@NeilACarousso) July 26, 2017

Over 20 American companies have committed to increase its manufacturing in the U.S., build plants and bring jobs back to middle America.

Food stamp enrollment is at lowest point since former-President Barack Obama took office.

Under Obama, 13 million additional people enrolled in food stamps, the labor participation rate was at a 40 year low and the economy grew at an anemic average of less than 1.5 percent of GDP – the slowest economic recovery since the 1940s after the Great Depression. Obama was the first president to not see economic growth of at least 3 percent despite his $800 billion stimulus that instead contributed to the most debt tacked on than all 43 presidents before Obama combined.

Time to make America prosperous again.

Watch Wednesday’s White House Jobs Announcement:

 

Featured Image of President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump taking to the stage at a Youngstown, OH rally Tuesday evening courtesy of Carolyn Kaster of the Associated Press.