How has the situation changed since the beginning of 2017? (new President)

“We will have two simple rules when it comes to this massive rebuilding effort, buy American and hire American,” said President Donald J. Trump. In April 2017, President Trump signed an executive order promoting American industry and protecting it from unfair competition. With that being said, President Trump is taking action to enforce laws promoting American industry and targeting companies (such as India’s IT outsourcing Infosys) who routinely abuse the H-1B visa program by replacing American workers with lower paid foreign workers.

Another example of change since President Trump took office is that he started a trade war to destroy China’s economy. Fast-forward to 2018, he tweeted that—“Apple prices may increase because of the massive Tariffs we may be imposing on China. Start building new plants now.” In November 2018, President Trump he signed a new trade agreement with Mexico and Canada (US-Mexico-Canada Agreement aka USMCA) to replace NAFTA. With that being said, some of the specifications of the agreement requires that 40% of cars eventually be made in countries that pay autoworkers at least $16 an hour – that is, the US and Canada and not Mexico – to qualify for duty-free treatment under the trade pact. It also requires Mexico to pursue reforms of labor law to encourage independent unions.