Factories can't keep July sizzle unless US solves trade issues

U.S. manufacturers added 16,000 workers in July, the most of any month since January, but they won’t be able to keep up that momentum unless Washington resolves the trade issues keeping company executives awake at night.

Congressional approval of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the Trump administration’s revision of the Clinton-era North American Free Trade Agreement, and securing a pact with China to end a trade war “are necessary ingredients to ensuring manufacturers in the United States can continue to prosper and grow,” said Chad Moutray, chief economist with the National Association of Manufacturers.