Scott Paul, President of the Alliance for American Manufacturing, joined America’s Work Force Union Podcast and spoke about the desire of consumers to purchase products made in the U.S.
Over the past two years, job growth in the manufacturing sector has increased to near record levels. Paul said nearly 800,000 new manufacturing jobs were created in this period, which he believes was largely due to consumers, who want to purchase goods created in the U.S. While the growth is incredible, Paul noted there are still nearly 500,000 manufacturing jobs open. If someone wants to be begin a career in the manufacturing sector, now is the time, he added.
Paul also explained language in the Infrastructure, Investment and Jobs Act that provides funding to build electrical vehicle charging stations along interstate highways. For a company to qualify for this funding, the charging stations must be built in the U.S. and at least half of the raw materials must be from the U.S. Paul feels these charging stations are a great example of how national policy can develop a new industry.
He also warned about of the use of low-cost Chinese-based shopping apps. The cost of gathering the raw materials for most of the items sold on these apps is more than the amount the items are sold for, Paul said. Since these companies ship items direct-to-consumer, they avoid paying taxes, tariffs and inspections fees, which takes away money from the government, he added.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more about these topics.