President-elect Donald Trump managed to get elected into the White House on a platform based on "Making America Great Again." Trump has been promising his supporters a stronger, more profitable America with enough jobs and prosperity to go around for everyone. Which sounds great... but is Trump actually putting his money where his mouth is? Or is all of Trump's merchandise really made in China as some claim? Wouldn't that go against every promise Trump has made to the economically depressed American people struggling to make ends meet?
According to a report by The New York Times, President-elect Trump has promised to hit companies who continue to send their business overseas with high tariffs in an effort to force them to create their products at home. While his own merchandise is negligible in the grand scheme of Trump's wealth, his daughter Ivanka Trump's company sells products made in Bangladesh, China, Thailand, and Vietnam, to name a few. The few clothing items sold under the Trump banner (as in hats, ties, suits, etc) are, indeed, made in 12 countries; none of which are the United States, according to the Times. If Trump plans to tax businesses that choose to outsource their manufacturing to other countries, Ivanka Trump (arguably one of Trump's most trusted confidantes) could be in for a rough ride.
Romper reached out to President-elect Trump's transition team but did not immediately hear back.
Trump was not always so critical of outsourcing manufacturing; according to a report by The Washington Post, Trump wrote a post in 2005 called "Outsourcing Creates Jobs In The Long Run," which read in part;
I know that doesn’t make it any easier for people whose jobs have been outsourced overseas, but if a company’s only means of survival is by farming jobs outside its walls, then sometimes it’s a necessary step. The other option might be to close its doors for good.
Ivanka Trump has followed in her father's footsteps, with every item in her clothing and shoe lines being made overseas. While she recently said she has been considering the possibility of making some items in-house, she would be one of the rare clothing manufacturers to do so; according to a report by the American Apparel and Footwear Association, 97 percent of clothing and 98 percent of shoes purchased by Americans was made overseas.
If President-elect Trump plans to make good on one of his main campaign promises to bring business back to America... he is clearly going to be filling one tall order.
