Trump’s promised ‘manufacturing boom’ couldn’t save these Whirlpool jobs | CNN Business

The US has lost thousands of manufacturing jobs over the last year. Beverly Dawson’s family was among them. Dawson was laid off this month at Whirlpool’s refrigerator factory in Amana, a small town in eastern Iowa. Her son’s offer to work full-time at the plant when he graduates from college in a few semesters was also pulled. Her husband was the only one to survive the latest round of layoffs. At the Amana plant, the hope of a stable future building appliances in the town that introduced America’s first side-by-side refrigerator is dimming. The factory’s workforce has been cut by more than half over the last few years as Whirlpool expands production in Mexico. “You have generations working at the Amana plant. People’s parents and grandparents,” Dawson, 48, said. “It’s a central part of the community and was a good, solid place to work.” Dawson is one of more than 100,000 American manufacturing workers who have lost their jobs since President Donald Trump entered office last year. Trump as a candidate promised a “manufacturing boom” and once in office launched broad global tariffs as the way to revitalize factory production in the United States. Despite th

Mar 19, 2026 → Apr 3, 2026