Trump's Tariffs Challenge Manufacturing Revival in Fall River

Sat Sep 13 2025 23:07:41 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

As President Trump's tariffs take effect, small manufacturers in Fall River, Massachusetts, are facing tough decisions about their future amid rising costs and uncertain demand.

In Fall River, Massachusetts, the promises of a manufacturing revival under President Trump's tariffs are being tested. Local manufacturers like the Teixeira family and Matouk are grappling with increasing costs and hiring difficulties, questioning the feasibility of a return to their former industrial glory. Despite some initial interest, many have turned down offers due to doubts about demand sustainability and the impact of tariffs on operational costs.

Trump's Tariffs Challenge Manufacturing Revival in Fall River

In a corner of a cavernous 1890s factory in southern Massachusetts, 15 people are bent over sewing machines, churning out specialty, hospital-grade neonatal gear. They are all that remain of what was once a much bigger manufacturing operation, most of which the Teixeira family shut down in 1990, reinventing their business as a largely warehousing and distribution business.

Since US President Donald Trump started rolling out sweeping tariffs, the Teixeiras have been fielding more inquiries from companies newly interested in their US-based sewing services. But they have turned down those offers, deterred by the difficulty of hiring in the midst of an immigration crackdown and doubts that the demand will be sustained.

It's just one of the many indications that achieving the manufacturing revival promised by the president is likely to be far more difficult than the White House has claimed. It's just not going to happen, said Frank Teixeira, who joined the family business in the 1970s and oversaw its dismantling and reinvention as Accurate Services Inc. Tariffs are a bad policy and eventually are going to come home to haunt us.

Trump campaigned for the presidency on the promise of a better economy, engineered in part by tariffs that he said would lower costs and usher in a new golden age. The message proved to resonate with voters, helping the campaign make unexpected inroads in working-class areas long considered Democratic strongholds.

However, experts warned that the tariffs, which are a tax on imports, would instead raise prices for American businesses and consumers and slow growth - with particular risks for manufacturers, who often rely on imported supplies. Now nine months into the president's term, the gulf between Trump's rhetoric and the reality on the ground in places like Fall River is starting to show.

Employment growth in the US has slowed precipitously this year, including in manufacturing. After expanding post-pandemic, payrolls at manufacturing firms have shrunk this year, shedding 12,000 jobs last month alone.

George Matouk, a maker of high-end bedding in Fall River, reported that between April and August, tariffs had already added over $100,000 a month in costs, impacting supplies crucial for his business.

Despite the superficial benefits of tariffs meant to protect domestic industries, many manufacturers are finding that the overall effect has been to increase their operational costs.

On the streets of Fall River, some Trump supporters remain hopeful, suggesting that time will ultimately show favorable results, while local business owners express growing frustration over government policies that have led to increased costs and diminished investment opportunities.