President Trump believes his vow to halt outsourcing and turn America into a manufacturing superpower is a “promise kept.” But as factories continue to cut jobs, the reality looks starkly different.

Even with the government shutdown delaying data, few expect good news about manufacturing. The Center for American Progress projects that the manufacturing sector shed 12,000 jobs in August alone — 42,000 since April, when “Liberation Day” tariffs kicked in.

Those figures stand in sharp contrast to the 765,000 manufacturing jobs added under President Biden, underscoring the reversal driven by poor policy and a harsh economic climate.

The Trump administration’s approach to visas is compounding that weakness. The latest $100,000 fee on H-1B applicants, meant to curb abuses, has instead alarmed firms that rely on global talent. Silicon Valley manufacturers companies are talking openly of moving operations abroad — precisely the outcome the policy was meant to prevent.

That anxiety has reaped national security ramifications. In the past couple weeks, Beijing rolled out its “K Visa” program just as Washington tightened the screws, and India is responding warmly. Indian nationals account for roughly 70 percent of H-1B recipients in the U.S. If that pipeline shifts eastward, the next generation of high-tech innovation could soon be rooted in China.

Losing that edge would strike at the heart........

© The Hill