Tariffs Are Bringing Factories Home—And Saving the American Worker from Free Trade's Folly

By Tucker McAllister | Circus of Power | April 24, 2026

When the Delco plant shuttered in Millbrook back in 2016, it wasn't just a factory that closed. It was a way of life. I remember standing on the curb with a hundred other folks—mostly men in grease-stained work shirts—watching the last truck haul away the machinery. That plant had churned out auto parts for decades, employing 1,200 souls at its peak. But offshoring to Mexico and China, courtesy of NAFTA and endless "free trade" deals, turned our Main Street into a ghost town. Families packed up, kids dropped out, and the opioid crisis hit like a freight train. As mayor, I fought tooth and nail for retraining programs and small-business loans, but it was like plugging holes in a sinking ship with chewing gum. Ten years later, under President Trump's second term, I'm seeing glimmers of what could have been: tariffs that are forcing companies to bring jobs back home. Yesterday's expansion of Section 232 tariffs on steel, aluminum, and copper isn't perfect, but it's a damn sight better than the nothing we got from the coastal elites who peddled globalization as gospel.

Let's cut through the noise. On April 6, the Trump administration broadened these national security tariffs to cover the full value of imported products, not just partial duties as before. The White House is crowing about a manufacturing "roaring back"—and the numbers back it up. Factory activity hit a four-year high last month, according to the latest ISM report, with orders surging in sectors like machinery and electronics. This isn't some abstract statistic; it's the largest wave of reshoring in U.S. history. Take General Motors: they're on track to build a China-free battery supply chain by 2028, investing billions in domestic plants from Ohio to Michigan. That's real money flowing back to the heartland, creating union jobs that pay a living wage. And it's not just autos. The EU just signed a memorandum of understanding with us on critical minerals—think lithium and rare earths—to secure supply chains away from Beijing's grip. Senator Marco Rubio nailed it on X yesterday: "This deepens US-EU ties and strengthens our largest trade relationship." For once, America's not begging at the table; we're setting it.

I know what the free-trade purists will say—they're already howling in the op-eds and think-tank reports. The Budget Lab at Yale pegs these tariffs as a $700 annual tax hike per household through April, passed on through higher prices for everything from cars to canned goods. The Tax Foundation chimes in that they haven't dented the trade deficit a whit, and now the Supreme Court has ruled that importers get $159 billion in refunds from earlier duties, a gut punch to the administration. President Trump vented on Truth Social: "One half-sentence from SCOTUS, and we'd save $159B—more than most countries are worth!" Fair enough; it's frustrating. And yeah, the Wall Street Journal warned of retaliation from trading partners, with Trump even threatening the UK over their digital services tax. If Europe slaps back, we could see higher costs ripple through supply chains, squeezing the very workers these policies aim to help.

But here's the thing: those critiques miss the forest for the trees. Free trade wasn't free—it cost us millions of jobs and hollowed out communities like mine. Remember the promises? "Comparative advantage" and "global efficiency" would lift all boats, they said. Instead, it lifted yachts for Wall Street while the rest of us bailed water. From 2000 to 2010, the U.S. lost 5.8 million manufacturing jobs, per the Economic Policy Institute, many to China after it joined the WTO. Millbrook's Delco wasn't unique; towns from Pennsylvania to Wisconsin turned into rust-belt relics. Tariffs aren't a silver bullet, but they're a targeted fix: they make offshoring less profitable, nudging companies to invest here. Look at the data since Trump's first-term tariffs in 2018—steel production rebounded by 10%, and employment in the sector ticked up 1.5%, even accounting for the pandemic dip. Now, with the expansions, we're seeing steel mills in Indiana and Alabama ramp up, hiring locals who thought blue-collar work was a relic of the past.

And let's talk China, because that's the elephant in the room—or more like the dragon breathing down our necks. Beijing's been playing us for decades, subsidizing industries to flood our markets with cheap goods while stealing our tech. The EU's minerals deal is a direct counterpunch, ensuring we don't hand over our electric vehicle future on a platter. GM's battery push is part of that: instead of relying on Chinese cobalt mines worked by near-slave labor, we're building it in places like Lordstown, Ohio—right next door to Millbrook. Sure, short-term prices might sting, but the alternative is permanent dependence. I've seen what happens when factories vanish: suicide rates climb, families fracture, and kids head to the cities for gig jobs that don't build wealth. Tariffs are about reclaiming leverage for American workers, not lining importers' pockets.

Skeptics like to paint this as economic nationalism gone wild, risking a trade war that hurts everyone. They'll point to the $700 household hit and say it's regressive, hitting low-income folks hardest. I get it—nobody in Millbrook needs pricier aluminum siding right now. But compare that to the wage suppression from unchecked imports. A study from the Peterson Institute—yes, even the free-traders' own shop—admits that Chinese competition depressed U.S. manufacturing wages by up to 1.4% annually in the 2000s. That's thousands of dollars lost over a career, for families already scraping by. Tariffs flip the script: they protect those wages while encouraging investment. The White House isn't wrong when they say Trump's policies are "delivering reshoring history." We've added over 800,000 manufacturing jobs since 2021, and factory construction spending is at record levels. In my old stomping grounds, a new parts supplier just broke ground, citing tariff stability as the reason. That's not theory; that's paychecks.

This manufacturing boom ties into the bigger America First picture. Why are we pouring billions into defending Europe from Russia—NATO bills that could fund a hundred Millbrooks—while China eyes our supply chains? Tariffs let us focus inward, rebuilding without endless foreign aid or entanglements. Sure, the Iran mess is spiking oil to $92 a barrel, adding inflation pressure, but trade tools like these insulate us from over-reliance on volatile globals. And on immigration, which I've long said undercuts domestic hiring, tighter borders mean more jobs for citizens in these reviving factories. No more flooding the labor market with low-wage workers while tariffs fight to bring back high-skill ones.

The naysayers will keep carping, but working people know better. We've been burned by the experts one too many times. As mayor, I sat through chamber meetings where suits from D.C. assured us "the market will provide." It didn't. Now, with tariffs driving this resurgence, it's time to double down. Congress should back the administration—override that SCOTUS refund if needed, and push for even broader protections on tech and pharma. Tell your representatives: no more half-measures. The American Dream isn't about cheap imports; it's about secure jobs and strong communities. If we stick with these policies, towns like Millbrook might just get a second chance. And wouldn't that be something worth the $700?

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Tucker McAllister is a former mayor of Millbrook, Ohio and writes on trade, immigration, and working-class America.

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