When President Trump, in his first term, placed “Made in America” at the center of his economic vision, it was not merely a slogan. It was a promise to American workers that manufacturing — once the bedrock of the nation’s prosperity — would return home, revitalizing communities hollowed out by decades of outsourcing.

From his first term and into his second, Trump has consistently emphasized that restoring America’s industrial base is essential — not only for economic growth but also for national security and the welfare of the working class.

Yet recent developments, most dramatically the raid on Hyundai’s Georgia battery plant, have laid bare one of the most pressing predicaments in America’s manufacturing revival: the desperate shortage of skilled workers needed to build factories, train local labor and sustain production.

The U.S. today faces an existential workforce gap. Tariffs on imports may protect American producers from foreign competition, but tariffs alone cannot create the skilled workforce required to power advanced manufacturing.

Training Americans to operate new manufacturing systems is a long-term endeavor. In the short term, the only way to bridge this gap is to bring in skilled specialists from abroad — engineers and technicians who understand the equipment, the technology and the processes.

The Hyundai raid dramatized this challenge. Nearly 500 South Korean nationals were detained for working on improper visas, revealing how rigid and outdated the current visa has become. Trump publicly acknowledged the underlying reality by declaring that skilled foreign workers........

© The Hill