Trump says US wants to make tanks, not T-shirts – Business News
President Donald Trump mentioned on Sunday his tariff coverage was aimed toward selling the home manufacturing of tanks and technology merchandise, not sneakers and T-shirts.
Speaking to reporters earlier than boarding Air Force One in New Jersey, Trump mentioned he agreed with feedback from Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on April 29 that the US does not essentially need a “booming textile industry” – feedback that drew criticism from the National Council of Textile Organizations.
“We’re not looking to make sneakers and T-shirts. We want to make military equipment. We want to make big things. We want to make, do the AI thing,” Trump mentioned.
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters earlier than boarding Air Force One at Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, NJ, Sunday, May 25, 2025. AP
“I’m not looking to make T-shirts, to be honest. I’m not looking to make socks. We can do that very well in other locations. We are looking to do chips and computers and lots of other things, and tanks and ships,” Trump mentioned.
The American Apparel & Footwear Association mentioned in response to Trump’s remarks that tariffs had been not good for the industry.
“With 97% of the clothes and shoes we wear being imported, and with clothes and shoes already the most highly tariffed industry in the US, we need to focus on common sense solutions that can move the needle,” AAPA President Steve Lamar mentioned in a assertion.
“More tariffs will only mean higher input costs for US manufacturers and higher prices that will hurt lower income consumers.”
Trump, who has upended world markets with the broad imposition of tariffs, revived his harsh commerce rhetoric on Friday when he pushed for a 50% tariff on European Union items beginning June 1 and warned Apple he could impose a 25% levy on all imported iPhones purchased by US shoppers.
US Army personnel load and secure navy tanks for transport to Washington, D.C., Thursday, May 22, 2025, at Fort Cavazos close to Killeen, Texas. AP
But he dialed back on the EU risk on Sunday, extending a deadline for these tariffs till July 9 to enable for talks between Washington and the 27-nation bloc.
Trump gained the 2016 and 2024 US presidential elections partly by interesting to working class voters harm by the loss of US manufacturing jobs over a few years.
He has sought to make good on his guarantees to enhance manufacturing with import tariffs and heralding investments by corporations and international nations into the United States, even because the US financial system stays depending on provide chains with different nations the place many items, together with textiles, are produced much less expensively.
