Trump: “The US wants to make tanks, not sneakers”
26 May 2025 09:30
US President Donald Trump has said that his tariff policy is aimed at stimulating domestic production of tanks and technological products, not sports shoes and clothing. This is reported by "Komersant Ukrainian" with reference to Reuters.
In this way, Trump supported U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who had previously stated that the United States does not necessarily need a “thriving textile industry.” These statements drew criticism from the National Council of Textile Organizations, but Trump clarified that the US is indeed going to move in this direction.
“We don’t want to make sneakers and T-shirts. I don’t want to make socks. We can do that very well elsewhere. We want to produce military equipment. We want to produce microchips and computers, many other things, and tanks and ships. We want to produce big things. We want to do artificial intelligence,”
– trump said.
Industrialists’ reaction
In response to Trump’s statements, the American Apparel and Footwear Association said that the tariffs on imported goods imposed by the president are not good for the industry. Its president Steve Lamar said:
“Since 97% of the clothing and footwear we wear is imported, and since apparel and footwear are already the most heavily tariffed industries in the United States, we must focus on smart solutions that can make a difference. More tariffs will only mean higher raw material costs for U.S. manufacturers and higher prices that will hurt low-income consumers.”
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Trade wars: to be continued
Trump, who has revolutionized global markets with his widespread imposition of tariffs, resumed his tough trade rhetoric on Friday when he called for a 50 percent tariff on European Union goods starting June 1 and warned Apple that he could impose a 25 percent duty on all imported iPhones purchased by American consumers.
However, on Sunday, he softened his threat against the European Union by postponing the implementation of these tariffs to July 9 to allow for negotiations between Washington and the EU.
Why Trump needs trade wars
Donald Trump won the 2016 and 2024 U.S. presidential elections in part by appealing to working-class voters who have suffered from job losses in U.S. manufacturing over the years.
He is trying to fulfill his promises to support manufacturing through import tariffs and investment in the United States, even as the U.S. economy remains dependent on supply chains with other countries where many goods, including textiles, are produced more cheaply.
The current presidential statement demonstrates a clear prioritization of the Trump administration’s trade policy. It focuses on strategically important national security and high-tech industries, while allowing for continued imports of consumer goods from other countries. In practice, this could mean easing tariffs on imported textiles, but this is not currently the case.
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