Expanding US Manufacturing : The Role of Technology, Policy, and Trade

A vibrant manufacturing sector is essential to the economic welfare and national security of the United States. Yet for decades, industry and government leaders have avoided practices that other nations have embraced. These choices now place the U.S. at a disadvantage when establishing and scaling new manufacturing capabilities. Two simple questions reveal the core of the problem. First: Why has the United States lost 33% of its manufacturing workforce (six million jobs) since 2000? Second: Why has Germany, a fellow high‑tech economy, avoided anything close to such losses?

This book provides honest, evidence‑based answers to these questions, illuminating the policy failures, structural weaknesses, and strategic gaps that have undermined American manufacturing. More importantly, they point directly to the steps required to spark a true revival of modern U.S. manufacturing. Blending clear explanation with sharp analysis, this book offers a comprehensive tour of the American manufacturing ecosystem: its economic and strategic value, its global competitors, and the forces (e.g., trade policy, management philosophies, cybertheft, intellectual property, labor practices, and government investment) that shape its strength. It also provides one of the first nuanced discussions of the ethics of manufacturing and trade, confronting issues that are often ignored yet essential to any honest conversation about global competition.

The book challenges readers to look beyond familiar headlines. Yes, the United States runs a massive trade deficit with China―but few realize that state‑sponsored cybertheft extracts a comparable amount each year. Many know about labor abuses in overseas factories, but far fewer understand how illegal labor practices distort global markets or why certain investments are labeled “infrastructure” while others are dismissed as threats to free markets. These realities matter, and they directly influence America’s economic resilience, national security, and technological future. At its core, this is a call to rethink American manufacturing―not as a fading relic of shuttered foundries, but as a foundation for high‑tech growth, well‑paid careers, and national strength. It explains how decades of underinvestment and policy missteps allowed competitors to surge ahead, especially after China entered the WTO, and it outlines what the United States must do to rebuild a thriving, competitive manufacturing base.

This book invites readers to imagine a different future: one where factories are expanding, not closing; where innovation is made in America; and where national defense and economic prosperity are never in doubt. The United States has long been a manufacturing powerhouse. With informed policy and renewed commitment, it can remain one.

Steven R. Schmid is the Belk‑Woodward Distinguished Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Before joining UNC Charlotte, he spent nearly 30 years on the faculty of the University of Notre Dame. His teaching and research span manufacturing, machine design, and tribology. From 2016 to 2018, Professor Schmid served at the National Science Foundation as Program Director for the Manufacturing Machines and Equipment program and as Head of the Advanced Manufacturing Cluster.

He earned his B.S. (with Honors) from the Illinois Institute of Technology and his M.S. and Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Northwestern University. Schmid has received numerous honors, including the John T. Parsons Award (SME), the Newkirk Award (ASME), the SME Gold Medal, the David Dornfeld Manufacturing Innovation Award, three Kaneb Center Teaching Awards, the Ruth and Joel Spira Award for Excellence in Teaching, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Manufacturing Engineering Society of Spain.

He is a past president of the North American Manufacturing Research Institution (NAMRI, 2015–2016) and was the first Academic Fellow at the Advanced Manufacturing National Program Office within the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he contributed to the design of the Manufacturing USA program. Schmid is the author of more than 140 technical papers and co‑author of several widely used textbooks, including Fundamentals of Machine Elements, Fundamentals of Fluid Film Lubrication, Manufacturing Processes for Engineering Materials, Schey’s Tribology in Metalworking, and Manufacturing Engineering and Technology. He is a Fellow of both the American Society of Mechanical Engineers and the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.