In response to a tweet from Trump today calling for Americans to boycott Goodyear tires, DNC senior spokesperson and adviser Lily Adams released the following statement:

“Trump’s botched coronavirus response has been catastrophic for American workers. Now he’s making things worse by recklessly calling for the boycott of an American company that employs thousands of workers across the country because of a segment he saw while live-tweeting cable news. The American people deserve better than a president who is willing to make them suffer for his own political vendettas.”

Trump promised to make more products in the USA, but instead American manufacturing fell into a recession.

• On the campaign, Trump said “I want products to be made in our country and I’m gonna bring companies back,” and as president he said he “believes in two simple rules: Buy American and hire American.”

• Instead, manufacturing output shrank and the industry was in a recession for all of 2019. Manufacturing represents the smallest share of the economy in 72 years.

Under Trump’s policies, companies are moving jobs and factories overseas while investment in America declines.

• Despite his promises, companies moved jobs overseas during Trump’s presidency. In Trump’s first two years alone, nearly 200,000 jobs moved overseas.

• Trump’s tax law failed to slow offshoring and even included new incentives for companies to relocate assets like factories overseas.

• Trump failed to boost investment in our country. Foreign investment grew at a slower annual pace during Trump’s first two years than under President Obama and fell 37.7% last year.

Trump’s “buy American” orders have done little to boost American manufacturing.

• Trump signed a “Buy American, hire American” executive order in 2017, but it made no real difference and was never clear on what, if anything, it changed.

• Trump signed an executive order last year encouraging recipients of federal financial assistance to use U.S. materials, but it included no enforcement mechanisms.

• Trump signed another symbolic executive order last year to increase requirements for a product to be labeled Made in America, but it did nothing to boost the struggling American steel industry.

• Trump’s Federal Trade Commission failed to crack down on companies determined to have falsely labeled goods as American made.

In Ohio, where Goodyear is headquartered, Trump hasn’t brought back jobs. The state lost over 5,000 manufacturing jobs last year. Nationally, over 250,000 factory jobs have been lost under Trump.

• Yahoo Finance: “Goodyear employs at least 7,000 unionized workers in 14 U.S. plants, according to its latest annual report. The company’s headquarters is in Akron, Ohio—a state Trump has to win in November to have a chance of beating Joe Biden. Goodyear has facilities in the crucial swing states of Florida and North Carolina, along with Texas.”

• Bureau of Labor Statistics: January 2019-January 2020: Ohio lost 5,500 manufacturing jobs.

• Associated Press: “There were 257,000 more manufacturing jobs on the day Trump became president than now. More important, the jobs recovery has shown signs of stalling.”

Trump has previously called for boycotts of dozens of other U.S. companies that support thousands of jobs.

• Trump has urged Americans to boycott Harley-Davidson, Nabisco, Apple, AT&T, and more.