By Josiah Ranen
There is a lot of media focus on the rising prices that Trump's tariffs will cost, and our local media is no different. The Ford Factory in Claycomo has been an economic centerpiece of Clay County with over 7,000 well paid Ford jobs providing the spending power to local retail businesses that further employ tens of thousands of lower wage workers across the Northland. Here in Claycomo, KCTV is "noting that business has already slowed as tariffs drive up food costs and factory workers limit spending." The KC Star blandly notes the impact of Canadian tariffs on the Claycomo plant.
This is undoubtedly true, and the Ford workers, like all workers in the metro area, are cutting back on expenses, which has a ripple effect. And it is important to note that people in low wage jobs who are already struggling, don’t have fluff to cut. It's not lattes and avocado toast—it’s groceries, gas, medicine, and rent. In this sense the media , it’s being real. If the "primary issue" is that folks can't afford to live, then yeah, that's worth focusing on.
But our local media is missing the bigger picture by failing to note that Ford is busy moving the F-150 gasoline truck production to Mexico and having the Claycomo workers' production lines retooled to produce electric van vehicles. Ford is busy cutting ties to local suppliers in favor of foreign ones. Senators Roger Marshall and Josh Hawley are busy inquiring into why Ford ended its partnership with Jack Cooper Transport, a company based in Kansas City, Mo which caused over 400 people to be laid off in January 2025. https://www.kctv5.com/ senators-demand-answers-over-fords- decision-that-led-400-kansas-city-layoffs/
While it is commendable that Ford wants electric vehicle production to commence in Kansas City, what is to stop Ford from eventually moving the electric vehicle production to Mexico as well? If the focus is to keep American jobs in Clay County, F-150 production should stay put, saving those jobs while thousands more jobs are created in the transition to electric vehicles. Instead, the media fixates on the short-term pain of tariffs without asking the deeper questions about long-term job security and corporate accountability.
Claycomo’s future doesn’t hinge solely on food prices or consumer spending habits—it hinges on whether we demand policies that prioritize American manufacturing and safeguard the livelihoods of the workers who have built this region’s economy for generations. If we’re serious about preserving and growing jobs in Clay County, we must focus not just on what’s happening now, but on what’s quietly being planned behind closed doors. We can not have our cake and eat it too. The American worker can have cheap prices and low wages that benefit corporate overlords or they can have jobs with high incomes and high prices. Yes, tariffs will cause high prices but you know what? If I still have a good paying pay job, I can just spend less, buy fewer things. I can't buy anything if my job is lost to automation or shipped to China or Mexico. In the long term, if American corporations automate everything, including well-paying IT jobs through the use of AI coding, and ship the remainder of manual jobs overseas, there won't be a strong American consumer base to buy these foreign-made products and AI services. Where will we be then?
Check out the local reporting on Tariff impacts
LOLL wow. If i have a good paying job, I'll just spend less! What a solution! Who woulda thought of that.... ALL OF US WHO ARE STRUGGLING ALREADY DO THAT. we've BEEN struggling financially, now this. Maybe the media only focuses on the cons becauze that's the PRIMARY ISSUE.
ReplyDeleteThere are no Pros.... What a crock of crap this article is.
ReplyDelete