Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) believes manufacturing “isn’t going to come” to the U.S. despite the Trump administration placing tariffs on countries to do so.
Khanna, who represents Silicon Valley, joined CBS News’s “Face the Nation” on Sunday, where he said he doesn’t think manufacturing for technology will come to the United States and that it will instead go where there are lower tariffs.
“Let’s say you suddenly put tariffs on China. What it would mean is the production would move to other parts of Asia. It still isn’t going to come here, unless you’re financing those factories here, willing to buy here,” Khanna said, pointing to the tech industry and semiconductor chips.
Khanna argued that companies and production will shift away from China, which President Trump put a 125 percent tariff on, but instead go to India, Malaysia or Vietnam.
“If you want to bring back the manufacturing to the United States, you have to invest in the workforce, you have to have some investment tax credit for the facilities, and you have to be able to buy the things we make in the United States,” he said.
Khanna pointed to a recently released CBS News poll, which found most Americans believe Trump’s tariff plan will benefit the wealthy and large corporations the most.
The survey found 74 percent of respondents believe Trump’s tariffs will benefit wealthy people, and 71 percent say it would help large corporations.
“I saw the poll earlier. This is not a hypothetical. This is not something the president will be able to spin,” Khanna said. “Either we’re going to see new factories come or we’re not, and tariffs just aren’t going to do that.”
