As Elkhart, Ind., Goes, So Goes the Nation, and Elkhart Is Nervous
ELKHART, Ind. — The tables were filled at the Chubby Trout restaurant and the local craft beer flowed. The Flippin’ Cow was packed too, with diners overlooking Simonton Lake. Small manufacturing companies were advertising for workers, offering health insurance and retirement accounts.
But Elkhart, with about 55,000 residents and a 2.3 percent unemployment rate, is also a bit nervous.
This city near the Michigan border has long been used as a political prop — first by President Barack Obama, then by President Trump — to express concern for the downtrodden and to make a claim on newfound prosperity.
Now, Elkhart may be sending a message that no politician wants to hear.
The city calls itself the “RV Capital of the World” — more than 80 percent of the vehicles sold in the United States are made in Elkhart and the surrounding area, according to the RV Industry Association — and Mr. Trump’s tariffs on imported steel and aluminum are increasing costs, diminishing demand and causing concern that a 10-year boom cycle could be waning.
Shipments of motor homes were down 18.7 percent in June compared with a year ago, and shipments of smaller trailers and campers were down 10.5 percent, according to the RV Industry Association. Motor home shipments were down 6.5 percent in July, but overall shipments were up 10 percent compared with the same month last year. Some companies have cut back to four-day workweeks. Amid strong job gains nationally, hints of rising wages and solid overall economic growth, Elkhart’s health is decidedly ambiguous.
“I think it’s a yellow light,” said Richard Curtin, a University of Michigan economist who is a consultant to the R.V. industry. “Depending on how things evolve in six months, it could be a red light, getting to the end of the expansion.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/as-elkhart-ind-goes-so-goes-the-nation-and-elkhart-is-nervous/ar-BBNcgLH?li=BBnb7Kz&ocid=mailsignout
= new reply since forum marked as read
the trade war he started will benefit the American worker.
We're seeing only the tip of the iceberg of the results of his war. It will get far worse.
