Trump's 'Made in America' Week Really Makes You Think
Believe it or not, the Trump administration has been staging Theme Weeks in an attempt to demonstrate that the president has a coherent agenda. Last month, for instance, brought us "Infrastructure Week," which was summarily torpedoed by James Comey's testimony before the Senate Intelligence Committee and the president's own behavior, which included criticizing London's mayor immediately following a terrorist attack in the city. Not to worry, though: Now we've got a new theme to contend with: "Made in America Week." Let's check in on how things are going.
Much like rebuilding our infrastructure, encouraging American manufacturing and trying to keep jobs on American soil is the kind of initiative on which Trump could probably attract Democratic interest under normal circumstances. (If he'd begun his term with a push for a $1 trillion infrastructure spending plan rather than Republicans' Repeal and Go Fuck Yourself healthcare plan, he might have a legislative achievement-and significantly higher approval ratings-to his name.) But like the other initiatives, this one will probably be undermined by the president himself. In this case, the outlines are emerging of-gasp-hypocrisy.
The White House will debut a "product showcase" this week, The Washington Post reports, with items manufactured in all 50 states. The president will issue a "declaration" around American manufacturing, and will attend the commission of the aircraft carrier the USS Gerald R. Ford-also M.I.A. But as the Post charitably put it, all this big-upping of American-made goods is "inconsistent" with Trump's business practices:
For years, the Trump Organization has outsourced much of its product manufacturing, relying on a global network of factories in a dozen countries - including Bangladesh, China and Mexico - to make its clothing, home decor pieces and other items. Similarly, the clothing line of Ivanka Trump, the president's older daughter and a senior White House adviser, relies exclusively on foreign factories employing low-wage workers in countries such as Bangladesh, Indonesia and China, according to a recent Washington Post investigation.
Asked whether Trump businesses would start practicing what the Trump administration is preaching, White House director of media affairs Helen Ferre had an inspiring reply:
"We'll get back to you on that."
In a plan more consistent with past priorities, Trump and his team of (ex-Wall Street) advisers are also hoping to use Made in America Week as part of their push to cut taxes on corporations. Conservatives have long argued that American corporate tax rates are too high, which encourages companies to flee abroad or dodge them. You have to wonder if they'll be able to work a corporate tax cut message into the theme weeks to come as well. According to the Post, those include "American Heroes Week," beginning July 24, and "American Dream Week," which kicks off July 31.
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