As a retiree from 35 years in manufacturing it is encouraging to see we are coming to our senses and acknowledge that industry builds the wealth of society

Once America turns its attention to something, nothing can stop it. We need an economy that works for regular people, hopefully we are heading in that direction.

This storyline is brilliant. Capturing the entire process from crop to manufacturing was a great idea.

This whole idea is what is needed not only for US but also Canada.....for so many reason....maybe someday we can once again talk to someone in North America when you need customer service...or dare I say, even somone locally!

As an international business student back in the days, the first things you learn are Adam Smith and David Ricardo’s theories on free trade. And it’s easy to hold it as true and the right way to do business. Only after so many years, its harm on environment, society and communities become apparent and makes you realize the system had so many hidden costs that were not discussed back then

I was a strong believer in global markets as a way to improve the world but never imagined how it would hurt US manufacturers and communities. I might have been wrong. Thanks for a great documentary.

I am 63 years old. All my life we have been in some kind of economic problem. During periods when the economy was "good", it was triggered by massive spending and debt. This country has never been allowed to flourish the way it could. This period reminds me of the 1970s when I first experienced inflation. I remember buying cigarettes from a vending machine and how quickly they went up in price. In the mid-'70s, cigarettes cost around 60 cents. $1. Today's inflation is the worst I've ever seen and it's a fire that more spending can't put out. If compared to the potential of our countries, we are in a total depression. Regardless of what you've experienced in your 'So Far, always keep in mind that debt and free-flowing credit have been responsible for it. The chickens have come home to roost and economic mother nature is about to crash. head out. Does anyone realize we used to have 25 million well paid?" Manufacturing jobs here in the US where you could actually afford to raise a family? All of those jobs were shipped offshore so big corporations could use slave labor and game the system more. When I was a child, fathers worked and mothers raised children and You could do it on the salary of a salaryman. Today they both work and cannot make ends meet. We have been robbed blindly and there will be hell to pay for all the suffering and misery that our corrupt politicians have done to us.

Excellent segment, bravo FT for showcasing how the offshoring of our manufacturing base has led us to where we are today. There's a saying idle hands make a devil's work. The US needs a meaningful and diverse job mix that challenges the hearts, minds, and hands. There's nothing wrong with four-year degrees, except that many people are NOT cut out for that road.

So revealing, so thought provoking and unlearning challenging. I'm not American, I come from the emerging economy side of the story and globalization kind of killed our industries too and our local production. We only get a piece of the supply chain and then we don't necessarily reap the benefits of a "cheaper price".

Having seen the way that US manufacturing gave away its jobs and factories, at least from the early 1980s, as did the UK under Thatcher, it is good to see industries rebounding now. An enjoyable film, I thought!

Great piece. I'm Europen but no less share the view that onshoring of skills is essential for our societies, economies and our environment. Finally, someone is making sense!

❤ I remember growing up in the Philippines in the mid & late seventies always looking for the tag “Made in America.” Levi’s Jeans was so in demand but anything made in America meant quality, status & also abit exclusive.

Meanwhile silicon valley outsourcing thousands of jobs to India and nobody is talking about it.

Brilliant Rana. This is so timely.The best example of a successful model was german Industry spending money to retrain its workforce and investments in new manufacturing.This is how germany became so successful. Idea of buying cheap, no matter where it comes from, helps Walmart but not Americans.If cheap labor is what the US needs, use Central/South America.Time to reshore and create regional manufacuring.This is what will sustain rural American communities

As a younger generation gives me hope for my country 🎉

Excellent presentation. I've been an advocate for the American lead world order but things have gotten out of hand since the 1980s. I'm in the middle of Rana's latest book, "Homecoming" and it is an amazingly succinct and interesting read. I highly recommend it to anyone interested in this video. Thanks, Rana.

The same thing happened Here in Canada, my hometown lost 1000’s of manufacturing jobs in the 1990’s. I.e. cotton mill operated there for over 100 years. The town is a shadow of its self now.

I live in Australia I have a shirt made in the USA, it is one of the best quality shirts I have owned in my 60 years.

The Covid-19 pandemic has been a huge wake up call on many fronts … and one of the most revealing being the fragility of our global supply chains. I see this movement as a silver lining in rebuilding more value-added tertiary economies that truly support the regional communities’ developments.

Re American Giant, it is a good example of an overall very good story. At $138 for a hoodie and $198 for a pair of standard chinos though, how many American families can afford them? I guess we'll have to get used to having fewer, better pieces of clothing rather than more, cheaper, throw-away clothes. Can our culture evolve to that though?

Good to see America re-shoring, cutting dependency and limiting itself to domestic consumption instead of trading with other countries and leaving the rest of the world to trade with each other in local currencies without being subject to US sanctions.

Our company developed and manufactures products here in the Netherlands. Never thought of moving production to China because it's not efficient at all. Maybe mass production works that way but in the long run it is not worth it. We sell all over the world but we're not selling it out of nationalistic sentiments, but because we want to make the best products for the world.

FANTASTIC!!! This research is a priceless Revelation Restore the Manufacturing fortunes of America. We allowed our treasures to be plundered...No more..we are restoring our glory a 100-fold

I wish to see good quality "Made in USA" products with fair price on the shelves of every country once again.

This video completely changed my mind about globalization and free market in an economic perspective! so good and helpful! Great job

Great to see educational and positive-story reporting. It feels so refreshing.

Great presentation, I am so proud of USA manufacturing because it brings us to train work skills and establishes a personal pride in products and developments together for the good of all.

Thank you for this reporting. This is such an important topic. America is almost breathing It’s last breath on the world stage because of everyone that has sold out the American worker

American made hand tools are the best tools ever made. The quality and longevity are second to none, such as Estwing Hammers and Marshalltown trowels. I stocked up over lockdown incase the supply chain to the UK got stopped. Same as others said about T-shirts, great quality. One happy UK customer. Peace

"American giving away its own prosperity".... that's it in nutshell. Thank you for this video. More of this please!!

Brilliant documentary….. so pleased to see “the small guy” being represented and recognised as being someone that can and does make things happen as well as a positive agent of change.

Excellent video. We need to revive American Manufacturing.

Another added benefit, if you have the skills to manufacture locally then you've got the skills to repair and maintain. More expensive, high quality goods made locally - less cheap tat that lasts a few weeks

I still need to see a hard look at the added cost to consumers of place-based economics. We see clothing from China, Vietnam, India, etc., and it's cheaper than it's ever been before. How much more are American consumers willing to pay? From the policies and success of Walmart, they're not willing to pay anything more.

There is a problem here that needs to be tackled in my opinion: monopolies.If there is only one or two companies that produces a product then the consumer will be screwed with either collusive prices, lowering quality , etc while not having the option to buy cheaper imported goods.While I fully support this I also think that there will be problems and I have little hope politicians will be up to the task of solving them because they are incentivized to look the other way while the rich profit. I hope they prove me wrong

What we need is a whole lot more Americans thinking about America ! I think a lot of the crime that goes on is there's few places to get a job . We need to restart America again like it was 50 years ago , I sure do miss the good old days .

A really interesting documentary. beyond the main subject of the nearshorization of the industry -which in itself is fascinating-, we rarely have the opportunity to see so closely what a modern cotton mill looks like in the XXIst century, and the massive sophistication of the machines in use today.

This is terrific journalism. Thank you so much 👏🏾👍🏾🙏🏾

America is great when manufacturing returns. Instead of being reliant on other countries, we could now be self-sufficient. This is great for national security as well as the local job market.

As soon as I saw the title of this video, I thought of American Giant. I paid $100 for one of their hoodies, their first product, and it's still perfect, years later, after wearing it very frequently for years. And, as someone born and raised in Fall River, MA (a former textile POWERHOUSE in the USA badly hurt socially and economically by globalization), I can testify to this film's points.

With all the technology there aren't really all that many jobs being created. It's a relatively few people running the factory now. The benefit I see is more the ability to build things we need locally instead of relying so much on foreign production.

So happy to see this point of view. This is what needs to happen. I will support these American companies. I've wanted to see this ever since Bill Clinton signed the injurious NAFTA agreement.

Great video. I hope it encourages politicians and business people to switch to the broader and better sustainable (socially and environmentally) view on the economy away from short term finance only. And it better be quick as the world, not only America, needs it.

Yes, America should build everything it needs and not buy from anywhere. An absolutely excellent idea.

It’s greedy manufacturers and company shareholders that’s driving companies overseas.

Very interesting series of videos from FT. Thank you!

This is great it’s about time to bring our skills home again. I’m Canadian and I totally agree that we need to bring our jobs and skills back home, for our sake and our communities.

Really like this! Hope the American manufacturing recovers over the next few decades to what it once was.

Cotton is comfortable. It is even more comfortable if it feeds a family in Bangladesh.

picking textiles as the example for the video makes a lot of sense with the Xinjiang counter-example, great video.

Such a wonderful thing that manufacturing jobs are returning to the US and the West! ❤

The well spoken presenter really makes this film a joy to watch and feel oh-so professional

Great video on producing $40 t-shirts and $130 bluejeans right here in the USA. We can make any great thing right here in America, so long as its a niche. We just don't mass produce very well unless its almost entirely done by automation.

My concern is that most of the new manufacturing jobs are non-union and in the South so they only end up adding jobs to one region and with those low wages, you might as well as be working at a more dangerous version of Walmart.

Rana, Thank you for your invaluable contribution to this vital issue of "homecoming". Your balanced study of every element of the issue is so important. All of us - politicians, boards, investors, employees and teachers have a part to play in returning our countries to the economic standing that our forebears fought so hard for. Thank you.

this is an excellent, excellent video. would be great to see the US get its industrial glory back after decades of neoliberal policies.

Thank you for the very good video, I liked it a lot. However, being from a high income European country, that still retains most of it's manufacturing jobs (Germany), the question in my opinion should not be: Globalization vs local prosperity, but rather: How can we enable the local prosperity through globalization. Because in the end, this is the model Germany persued. The country has a lot of small and medium sized "hidden champions", that have their niche in manufacturing, but also big car companies and machine making companies and all of those massively profited from globalization, by outsourcing the part of the production process, that was not profitable in Germany, but keeping the value adding stuff in the country. The main things are three-fold in my opinion: 1. having a product, made in the USA, that people globally would like to buy (e.g. Caterpillar, Weber Grills etc.) and 2. valueing manufactured goods locally. As an example: most of my kitchen appliances and general machines in the house are from German brands and also made in Germany and that is the case for many homes here. 3. sharing the prosperity inside the country and not have winner-takes all regions. The disparity between apalachia and the Silicon Valley for example would be bridged by tax transfers in most European countries for example. With the downside of course, that a European Silicon Valley would be less profitable due to these transfers.

Made in America always sounded good to me. Hopefully, this will indeed lead to better jobs and wages for the workforce in general.

Congratulations Rana. Real debate about real problems. That is real journalism.

Glad to see that we are bring manufacturing back home

Interesting to see the long term trends of manufacturing on display in this video. Really well done!

The last product I bought here in Europe of which I can remember that it had the label "Made in USA" on it, was a Western Digital hard disk some 15 years ago.

So great to hear these success stories...Thank you !

it's nice to see some optimism growing into the country

Note the rising use of Automation. (L)abor is being replaced by (K)apital.

I something wonder, is anybody on the left or the right in the US still checking unemployment numbers? And is anybody still willing to tell US folks, they'll most likely have to endure a decade of high inflation going forward with a labor market in short supply and raising import barriers... labor productivity is flat for years not only in the US but also Europe. There is also the demographic transition.. There won't be a post-globalisation world - production will only look for even more cheap labor markets compared to China like SEA.

What a wonderful film. It is all coming back and America will be better as a result.

This is such an critical subject that is well presented. Perhaps every American company that is producing consumer goods & services should watch this. This is like a blueprint . I even believe this should be part of classroom curriculum to teach the next generation the importance of Made In America is about self preservation.

As someone who worked in american manufacturing, this will never happen. There is waaaay to much labor in most industries to make it profitable. Maybe with human level AI or something but not before that.

Love ❤️❤️❤️ and respect for a new resurgence of US economy after post globalization.... Shobhan roy from Bangladesh.. Working as a Nurse.....

Most encouraging story I've heard in 25 years! Thank you

Thanks ft crew for bringing some optimism

Fantastic watch and a very pertinent topic. Very well made film team FT !

I love seeing made in the U.S. products. Nice one.

Great Info ! Thank you . I live in S.C. I'm looking forward to the growth we are about to experience!

Great insight & different angle and perspective . Tq2 FT😄🙏

The Financial Times have been putting out some really great content recently and this was no exception. It was as uplifting as it was insightful, thanks for posting.

Yes finally, come on America. Manufacture more products, you can do it!

I am just starting to go into Manufacturing here in South Africa as a South African and I am learning from your documentary. Thank you

How do you want to bring back manufacturing if there are no workers left to do it? In all western countries there is a lack of people willing and able to do manual work in production and maintenance.

Great documentary. I could not agree more!

Fantastic documentary. An informative and non-political discussion about addressing real problems to help people live better and more fulfilling lives. Maybe legacy media is not dead.

I was very interested in the cotton gin. Both my dad and my grandfather worked for Murry Gin Company back in the 50s and 60s building cotton gins. I am sure they are much more automated now.

From a geopolitical standpoint, the US pulling out of the TPP was the stupidest possible decision. We could have used the TPP to counter Chinese influence in AIPAC. As it is, our pulling out left a power vacuum, into which stepped China. Regionalization can be a good thing, but isolationism isn't. As this film points out, financialization is never a good thing, and is just another method for Wall Street to hollow out the economy for their own short term profit.

I live in Central America and the amount of foreign investment coming into the region over the past couple of years has been almost unprecedented, mostly due to companies bringing back manufacturing from Asia to nearby locations where they can be better integrated into US supply chains, creating jobs both down here and in the US. Whether its textiles and other labor intensive goods in northern Central America (as mentioned in this video), or computer chips and more technological goods to Costa Rica, it has allowed these economies some hope of recovery from COVID. But these are small countries and while the amount of investment is very significant to local economies, its a drop in the bucket that is barely noticed by China, Vietnam and other Asian economies. Biden's policies have certainly contributed to this onshoring and nearshoring of manufacturing, but I don't see the US dependence on Chinese manufacturing ending any time soon. It's going to be a long process.

Excellent video. Very interesting times. I'm a maintenance tech in the food industry. There always looking for people at work. There's going to be massive labor inflation with all the boomers retiring. I feel I could work anywhere and have been heavily recruited. My sector really needs a boost. All of my coworkers are older than me and close to retirement. The trades need to come back and fast. It's a very rewarding job that pays well. I don't know why the younger generations aren't interested. Hopefully us Americans get are house in order. Whatever politicians thought a service economy was a good idea are crazy

Stunning! Thanks very much! Best wishes for all of you hard working people with dreams.We can make it! Greatings from Madrid.

A Capitalist When They Are Winning: "Free trade good!" A Capitalist When They Are Losing: "Free trade bad!"

There are two huge problems that were not addresses in this video: (1) Being competitive in exports, when the other countries had learnt from how America has globalized trades and do manufacturing in countries with cheap labors, and (2) The culture of vulture style Capitalism in this country and the fact that our system favors corporations with deep pocket (e.g. the existence of lobbying for law changes, Citizen United vs FEC ruling, etc.). Big public companies do not even treat its employees or even in these days its customers well. They only care about making more money for its executives and shareholders. How to deal with these two problems soundly are the key to success for moving manufacturing back to the country.

I am so impressed with your work here ! The perspective is so very important !

I am so glad that America finally got up from the long weighted sleep. The giant is up, watch out the world! Go America go! I can’t wait to see again Made in America 🇺🇸

Is there a website that lists all products that are fully made in USA??

Localized economies are good for all sovereign countries. The challenge is need for export of the excess produce. This brings about globalization. The competition in global markets and 'free economy' mechanisms lead to loss of jobs in some countries and gains are made elsewhere. The it goes all back in a circle. Its important to match production and local market demand. Follow the tech war happening now, it will be a full circle 30 years later due to lack of enough local market.

An excellent production. The reporting and interviews were superb, as are most Financial Times productions I have viewed.

Masterpiece..🎉

Nice review. The graphics projected onto physical objects was really sharp and polished. I lean left and it pains me knowing Clinton got us here and Trump was the first one to do something about it with all of his angry rhetoric and targeted tariffs. Biden is keeping the the pressure up too. US Fed Funds was essentially 0.25% from 2000 to 2016 reflecting the anemic growth as a result of "globalization" and a central bank worried about "deflation". Now the FF rate is climbing to 3.75% and beyond. Perhaps we are returning to a pre-globalization economy with 5% Fed Funds rate a normal level again to keep inflation at 2%.

Before we get too excited about minimum wage manufacturing jobs and water intensive cotton (although I love it) should we consider how long those jobs are even needed and when is robotics going mainstream (not just Amazon)? Also, sportswear patterns could be refined and what about being a textile producer and have independent designers? Hemp could be an alternative. The synthetic non biodegradable clothes are a huge problem!

This is an excellent video! Very well produced, love the motion-tracked text and figures.

Very educational. Thank you kindly for such good content and reporting. I would love to also learn about the actual innovation and brilliance behind the making of these miraculous machines that work so fast and are highly specialized. I also watch videos of "How It's Made" for this reason. Human ingenuity is such an amazing thing. For example, in this video where he man says the cotton machines takes a little bit off the top to insure the blending happens, my immediate question is "how does it know and how does it actually do that exactly?!". Humans are awesome. :)

A very truthful valuable documentary. Thanks for making this!