Washington declared American manufacturing dead. Trump’s USMCA brought it back to life

Published August 18, 2026 7:00am ET



For decades, Washington accepted the idea that American manufacturing jobs were simply the price of globalization. Communities watched factories close, supply chains move overseas, and good-paying jobs disappear, while policymakers insisted that free trade alone would eventually make everyone better off. 

President Donald Trump rejected that consensus, and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement has shown why he was right. 

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