The decline in manufacturing employment as a share of total US workforce (from ~30% in 1954 to ~8% today) is not caused by trade but by mechanization and technological innovation; approximately 80% of this decline is due to innovation and only 20% can be directly related to trade.

causalpending

Speaker

Donald Boudreaux

Evidence Quote

it's caused by mechanization it's caused by the very same forces that worldwide and in North America caused the portion of the workforce in agriculture to decline [11:28]

Source

Why You're Getting Poorer: Major Slowdown Ahead | Donald BoudreauxDavid Lin
Created: 8/11/2026, 6:30:09 AM

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