Ferguson, Mo.: In 2009, the chief executive of Emerson Electric Co. bluntly told investors at a Chicago conference what many of his counterparts at other manufacturing firms would only say privately.
Those investments have added 2,500 employees, Farr said. Emerson declined to say how many jobs the new factories would create. The renewed domestic focus by Emerson, a major employer of high-skilled workers, nonetheless stands out as a victory for Trump’s protectionism. Emerson has been a poster child for globalization, and its CEO is among the nation’s most influential manufacturing executives. Farr just completed a two-year term as chairman of the National Association of Manufacturers, the sector's main lobbying organization.
Trump withdrew the United States from the sweeping Pacific accord immediately after his election, and many Republican free-traders have since gone silent on the issue or adopted variations of the president’s rhetoric. Some decisions remain in flux as trade disputes simmer. Emerson had long planned a new factory in Mexico to serve North America, but broke construction into two phases pending the outcome of a revised U.S. trade agreement with Canada and Mexico that awaits congressional approval. The first phase is underway, but the second will only be built if the trade deal goes forward.
Foreign companies are also recalibrating, including Dutch multinational Koninklijke Philips NV, one of the world’s largest electronics companies, which last year relied on the United States for 35 percent of its sales. CEO Frans van Houten told investors on a call in January that he is stepping up efforts — like Emerson — to produce more goods where they sell them, moving away from a model of factories specializing in products that are then shipped globally.
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