Wow! Who says election promises don’t produce real change?

Candidate Trump had loudly proclaimed that he would force US corporations to move their Chinese manufacturing jobs back to America. How? By imposing a whopping new tariff on all of the made-in-China products they sell to us.

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Even he must have been surprised, though, when one major American corporation promptly shouted “Yes, sir!” Only one day after Trump’s election, the Steve Madden shoe manufacturer announced it would leave China, where nearly all of its footwear is made. Amazing – a victory for Trump policy even before he takes office! And a morale boost for American workers.

So, where would Madden relocate? Maybe in the hard-hit industrial Midwest, or maybe such former shoe-making areas as New England and the Southeast. But no. In a less-pleasant surprise to Trump, Madden executives said they would not replant their factories in the USA – but in Vietnam, Cambodia, and Brazil.

Despite appearing to succumb to Trump’s anti-China tariff, Madden is making an end run around it, “leaving China” by taking China with it. The corporate trick here is the structural reality not only are US factories located in China, but so are the suppliers of materials manufacturers must buy to make their products. So, Madden can scoot down to Vietnam, thus escaping Trump’s China tariff. But the shoe’s components, from laces to soles, will still be Chinese-made. And contrary to Trump’s bragging, his policy will not create a single Made-in-America job.

This is Jim Hightower saying… Let’s remember that corporations are the most aggressively-selfish elites in our society, and we should not be duped into thinking that running job-creation policy through them will benefit anyone but them.

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