‘Trump requests Asia & Europe to train US workforce’

This is apropos a letter to the Editor from this writer carried by the newspaper on Wednesday and yesterday. The contrast between America’s past and present could not be sharper. In 1945, U.S. factories produced 96,000 airplanes, 57,000 ships, and millions of vehicles, an industrial surge that not only won the war but cemented American global dominance.

By the 1980s, however, Japan had become the world’s largest shipbuilder, South Korea soon overtook it, and today China controls nearly 45 percent of global shipbuilding output, while the United States accounts for less than one percent. In semiconductors, America once produced over 35 percent of global supply in 1990; today, its share has shrunk to around 12 percent, with the cutting edge concentrated in East Asia.

In high-speed rail, America has none, while China has built over 26,000 miles of bullet train tracks in just 15 years. These numbers tell the story more starkly than words. America’s industrial supremacy has been hollowed out, leaving behind a shell of what it once was.

Trump’s realization, while late, is significant. By calling on foreign trainers, he acknowledges that rebuilding industrial power requires more than tariffs or subsidies; it requires knowledge transfer.

Yet even this approach is incomplete. America cannot rely forever on outsiders to teach what it once knew. Without rebuilding its research base, restoring university funding, and encouraging innovation, the country risks temporary fixes without long-term solutions.

Trump’s policies, particularly his tightening of green cards and student visas, contradict his new appeal. America has historically thrived by welcoming foreign talent, with nearly half of Silicon Valley startups founded by immigrants. Restricting these flows undermines the very revival he envisions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2025