The Impact of the Next US President

Donald Trump is projected to be elected the 47^th president of the United States, according to multiple news outlets including the AP as of 6:00 am EST.

What could a second Trump term mean for engineering and manufacturing? Did our poll predict the winner?

Let’s look at a few promises Trump made in recent speeches.  

Trump wants to rebuild US manufacturing through tax and energy policies as well as tariffs, he said during a Savannah, GA, speech in September. “With the vision I'm outlining today, not only will we stop our businesses from leaving for foreign lands, but under my leadership, we're going to take other countries’ jobs,” he said. “We're going to take their factories . . . . Under my plan, American workers will no longer be worried about losing jobs to foreign nations. Instead, foreign nations will be worried about losing their jobs to America. And it won't even be difficult. Your only worry will be deciding which job to take.”

He continued: “I want German car companies to become American car companies. I want them to build their plants here. I want to beat China in electronics production, and we'll be able to do that easily. We have the greatest genius, the greatest minds here, and then we end up building them in different places. A lot of that's really stupid tax policy. I want GE, IBM, and every other manufacturer that left us to be filled with regret and come sprinting back to our shores, and they will.

"So as your president, here is the deal that I will be offering to every major company and manufacturer on Earth. I will give you the lowest taxes, the lowest energy costs, the lowest regulatory burden, and free access to the best and biggest market on the planet, but only if you make your product here in America. It all goes away if you don't make your product here and hire American workers for the job. If you don't make your product here, then you will have to pay a tariff, a very substantial tariff, when you send your product into the United States.”

Tariff is a "beautiful word," he added.

Trump believes that his efforts will benefit American workers. “This new American industrialism will create millions and millions of jobs, massively raise wages for American workers, and make the United States into a manufacturing powerhouse like it used to be many years ago. We will be able to build ships again. We will be able to build airplanes at a much higher level again. We will become the world leader in robotics and every other field. The US auto industry, which has been decimated over many, many decades, will once again be the envy of the planet,” Trump said.

More on Trump's energy policy

Expect a pull-back of clean energy policies. Harris and Trump had very different approaches when it came to clean energy and related technology. Harris believed in supporting clean energy efforts while Trump called it the "green new scam." 

For instance, in September, Trump detailed his plans for energy policy at the Economic Club of New York: "We will blast through every bureaucratic hurdle to issue rapid approvals for new drilling, new pipelines, new refineries, new power plants, new electric plants, and reactors of all types. Prices will fall immediately in anticipation of this tremendous supply that we can create rather quickly, and we'll be the leader instead of the laggard."

He also said his plan would "terminate the green new deal, which I call the green new scam, greatest scam in history . . . . It actually sets us back, as opposed to moves us forward."

Fewer regulations to come?

Trump said in his Economic Club of New York speech that during his first term, he had pledged to cut two old regulations for every one new regulation. "We did much better than that. As I've said, over the past four years, Kamala has added $6,300 a year in regulatory costs onto the backs of the typical American family. . . . I'm pledging today that in my second term, we will eliminate a minimum of 10 old regulations for every one new regulation. We'll be able to do that quite easily, actually. And instead of attacking industries of the future, we will embrace them, including making America the world capital for crypto and Bitcoin."

Under Trump, there may also be less regulation when it comes to AI. As Design News reported last month, “Trump has committed to rolling back President Biden’s executive order on AI, which he views as overly restrictive. His approach emphasizes minimal government intervention, aligning with free-market advocates.”

Kamala Harris had planned to invest in advanced manufacturing and new technologies. During a campaign stop last week at Hemlock Semiconductor, she told attendees that “we have to constantly be on top of what is happening, what is current, and investing in the industries of the future, as well as honoring the traditions and the industries that have built up America's economy. And what you all are doing here is exactly that,” she said. “Look, we’ve got to win the competition for the 21st century. We're not going to have China beat us in the competition for the 21st century,” she added. “You're creating the raw materials that these robots are then shipping out to other American-based manufacturers. You're doing the work that's about building up a clean energy economy.”

Significant investment has already taken place under the CHIPS Act, so there is hope that work will continue, Design News shared last month.

As Trump settles back into office, we’ll be tracking his efforts to support US engineering and manufacturing.