this post was submitted on 16 Jun 2025
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Economics

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In a corner of Kentucky just outside of Louisville, family-owned shoe company Keen is opening a new factory this month.

The move fits neatly into the "America First" economic vision championed by the Trump administration - an emblem of hope for a manufacturing renaissance long promised but rarely realised. Yet beneath the surface, Keen's new factory tells a far more complicated story about what manufacturing in America really looks like today.

With just 24 employees on site, the factory relies heavily on automation -sophisticated robots that fuse soles and trim materials - underscoring a transformation in how goods are made today.

Manufacturing is no longer the labour-intensive engine of prosperity it once was, but a capital-heavy, high-tech enterprise.

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[–] TomMasz@piefed.social 2 points 1 day ago

Can you make [fill in the blank] in the US? The answer is "yes", though depending on the product, there may be significant startup costs due to a lack of existing infrastructure and tooling.

Can you make [fill in the blank] in the US at a competitive price? For high margin items, certainly. But for most consumer goods, it's at best "maybe".