Trump urges foreign firms to train US workers, vows to outdo their 'game'

Trump called on foreign companies to bring skilled experts to train Americans in semiconductors, shipbuilding and high-tech machinery, assuring investors of legal support for skilled migration

US President Donald Trump has urged foreign companies investing in America to bring not only capital but also skilled personnel, stressing the need to retrain American workers in advanced manufacturing techniques.

 

In a post on Truth Social on Sunday, Trump said the United States must relearn skills in “industries such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, and high-tech machinery” by working closely with foreign firms making large-scale investments.

Knowledge transfer vital for manufacturing revival

Trump wrote that when foreign companies in the US are engaged in building “extremely complex products, machines, and various other ‘things’,” they should also bring experts for a period of time to train American workers. He said such knowledge transfer was crucial to rebuilding capabilities and securing long-term benefits.

 

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“Without this, massive investments would never come — in chips, semiconductors, computers, ships, trains and many other products that we must either learn anew or relearn, as we were once great at making them but are not anymore,” he said.

 

Citing shipbuilding as an example, Trump noted that the US had once produced a ship a day but now “barely builds a ship a year.” He said temporary help from foreign specialists would help restore expertise and enable the US to regain self-reliance in critical industries. 

US welcomes investment but stresses compliance

Reassuring global investors, Trump said the US remains open to foreign participation. “I don’t want to frighten off or disincentivise investment into America by outside countries or companies. We welcome them, we welcome their employees, and we are willing to proudly say we will learn from them, and do even better than them at their own ‘game,’ sometime into the not too distant future,” he said.

 

Earlier on September 8, Trump had told foreign companies to respect immigration rules while creating opportunities for Americans. His comments followed an ICE raid at Hyundai’s battery plant in Georgia. 

 

In another post, he said: “Your investments are welcome, and we encourage you to legally bring your very smart people, with great technical talent, to build world-class products, and we will make it quickly and legally possible for you to do so.”

Tariffs driving companies to build in US

Trump’s remarks come as Washington intensifies efforts to strengthen domestic manufacturing in response to tariffs on imports. He recently highlighted that firms, particularly carmakers from China, Mexico and Canada, were shifting production to the US to avoid tariffs and take advantage of trade protections.

 

“Thousands of companies are coming into the US… Traditionally, car companies… They are coming from China, Mexico, Canada… They want to build here because, number one, they like to be here, and number two, the tariffs are protecting them. And number three, they want to avoid paying tariffs. When you build their cars here, you don’t have any tariffs,” he told reporters at the White House earlier this month.

ALSO READ: 'Fairly substantial' semiconductor tariffs coming 'shortly', says Trump