The decline of traditional US industries has formed the backdrop to Donald Trump’s central pledge to “make America great again”. While Nafta (the North American Free Trade Agreement) is often blamed for shipping American manufacturing jobs south of the border to Mexico, the number of employees in manufacturing actually increased in the US after it was enacted in 1994. But economists argue that China joining the World Trade Organisation in 2001 has had the biggest impact on American manufacturing jobs by flooding the US with cheap imports that have knocked out homemade goods. SteelThe US industry has collapsed due to competition from cheap overseas steel. Production of American steel peaked in the 1970s, and its decline was accelerated by the 2008 financial crisis.

Source: The Guardian November 05, 2016 15:56 UTC