2025 was supposed to be a big year for American manufacturing.
Indeed, boosting US-made goods was a key priority of President Donald Trump’s trade war, which led to wild swings in tariff rates on imported products.
Nearly a year later, the actual changes to consumer behavior aren’t entirely clear.
For starters, many retailers worked quickly to order merchandise ahead of tariff deadlines and found alternate sources of comparable goods to secure lower duties.
A particular challenge for brands that manufacture products in the US is that many still rely on imported materials or equipment, which have seen cost increases related to tariffs.
One entrepreneur who wanted to make a better grill scrubber discovered firsthand how hard — and expensive — it was to make a product entirely with an exclusively American supply chain.
Another gave shoppers the choice between otherwise identical shower heads: an imported version and an American-made one that cost nearly twice as much. No one bought the higher-priced product.
Of course, neither industrial nor consumer behaviors change overnight.
With enough time and investment, some CEOs believe US manufacturing can make a comeback.
As things stand now, however, tariffs have largely settled at an average rate of around 15%, and consumers appear to be reluctantly accepting the higher prices. There’s also the issue of unresolved legal challenges to much of Trump’s authority to apply many of the tariffs that he did.
So, as a new year begins, will shoppers choose more American-made products, and will that be enough to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing?
Take our survey to help us find out.
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