As if an unpopular war with Iran and persistent inflation were not enough trouble for Republicans, they are confronting a backlash over the tariffs that President Donald Trump made a cornerstone of his economic agenda. He promised that charging higher taxes on imports would spur a factory renaissance in the United States, but that has not come to pass. Although the country has added manufacturing jobs so far this year, the sector has fewer employees than when Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.
White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers insisted that a factory boom is underway, citing increases in manufacturing output and more work in certain nonresidential construction trades. “Factory construction jobs of today mean more manufacturing jobs down the road once those factories come online,” she said.
Wendell Young, a union leader in central Pennsylvania, where several factories have had layoffs, said he senses a Trump backlash among workers.
Last summer, Young said he got a firestorm of angry responses to his email blaming tariffs for a decision by Post Holdings to cut 160 jobs at a local pet food factory.
“Keep politics out of this,” wrote one of the workers at the plant in Bloomsburg, Pennsylvania. “President Trump isn’t the reason.”
“People used to beat me up for not supporting Trump. I haven’t heard that in a year,” said Young, president of Local 1776 of the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union. “Some of these people are red Republicans and they are shocked. They expected more jobs.”
Post Holdings ultimately agreed to reduce the head count by offering severance for people to leave, but lower production had a ripple effect.
Local can manufacturer Trivium Packaging decided to cut several jobs because they were getting less orders from Post and other companies, according to Young’s union.
“I understand the mindset behind tariffs, but I just don’t know if it’s working,” said former Post worker Heather Kingston. She left for another company before the layoffs, and her husband is still working at Post. “There doesn’t seem to be many manufacturing jobs moving into the area,” she said.
Kingston said she voted for Republican Dan Meuser in the 9th District last time but is having doubts this year. Meuser’s seat is considered safe, but other races in the state are up for grabs, including in the 7th and 8th districts, which are near the Post and Trivium factories.
