Editing Rust Belt (section)

==Free trade, deindustrialization and wage deflation==
{{See also|History of tariffs in the United States}}
[[File:U.S. Trade Balance (1895–2015) and Trade Policies.png|thumb|U.S. trade balance and trade policy between 1895 and 2015]]
[[File:Real Income Gains in the Global Population.png|thumb|Real income gains in the global population<ref>https://hbr .org/2016/05/why-the-global-1 and-the-asian-middle-class-have-the-most-from-globalization</ref>]]
In early 2017, [[Joseph Stiglitz]] wrote that "the American middle class is indeed the loser of [[globalization]] or free trade" (the diminution of international trade regulations as well as tariffs, taxes) and "China, with its large emerging middle class, is among the big beneficiaries of globalization". "Thanks to globalization, in terms of purchasing-power parity, China actually has already become the largest economy in the world in September 2015".<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/02/donald-trump-china-economics-trade|title=Trump's Most Chilling Economic Lie|first=Joseph E.|last=Stiglitz|website=[[Vanity Fair (magazine)|Vanity Fair]]|date=17 February 2017}}</ref>

Studies by David Autor, David Dorn and Gordon Hanson show that free trade with [[China]] cost Americans around one million manufacturing workers between 1991 and 2007.Competition from Chinese imports has led to manufacturing job losses and declining wages. They also found that offsetting job gains in other [[Industry (economics)|industries]] never materialized. Closed companies no longer order goods and services from local non-manufacturing firms and former industrial workers may be unemployed for years or permanently. Increased import exposure reduces [[wages]] in the non-manufacturing sector due to lower demand for non-manufacturing goods and increased labor supply from workers who have lost their manufacturing jobs. Other work by this team of economists, with Daron Acemoglu and Brendan Price, estimates that competition from Chinese imports cost the U.S. as many as 2.4 million jobs in total between 1999 and 2011.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Autor |first1=David H. |last2=Dorn |first2=David |last3=Hanson |first3=Gordon H. |date=October 2013 |title=The China Syndrome: Local Labor Market Effects of Import Competition in the United States |url=https://www.aeaweb.org/articles?id=10.1257/aer.103.6.2121 |journal=American Economic Review |language=en |volume=103 |issue=6 |pages=2121–2168 |doi=10.1257/aer.103.6.2121 |issn=0002-8282|hdl=10419/69398 |hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Acemoglu |first1=Daron |last2=Autor |first2=David |last3=Dorn |first3=David |last4=Hanson |first4=Gordon H. |last5=Price |first5=Brendan |date=January 2016 |title=Import Competition and the Great US Employment Sag of the 2000s |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/682384 |url-status=live |journal=Journal of Labor Economics |language=en |volume=34 |issue=S1 |pages=S141–S198 |doi=10.1086/682384 |issn=0734-306X |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210618091001/http://economics.mit.edu/files/9811 |archive-date=2021-06-18|hdl=10419/110869 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

Avraham Ebenstein, Margaret McMillan, Ann Harrison also pointed out in their article “Why are American Workers getting Poorer? China, Trade and Offshoring” these negative effects of trade with China on American workers.<ref>{{Cite report |url=http://www.nber.org/papers/w21027.pdf |title=Why are American Workers getting Poorer? China, Trade and Offshoring |last1=Ebenstein |first1=Avraham |last2=Harrison |first2=Ann |last3=McMillan |first3=Margaret |date=March 2015 |publisher=National Bureau of Economic Research |issue=w21027 |doi=10.3386/w21027 |location=Cambridge, MA |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Economic Policy Institute]], a left-leaning think tank, has claimed that free trade created a large [[trade deficit]] in the United States for decades which lead to the closure of many [[factories]] and cost the United States millions of jobs in the manufacturing sector.  Trade deficits lead to significant wage losses, not only for workers in the manufacturing sector, but also for all workers throughout the economy who do not have a university degree. For example, in 2011, 100 million full-time, full-year workers without a university degree suffered an average loss of $1,800 (~${{Format price|{{Inflation|index=US|value=1800|start_year=2011}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}}) on their annual salary.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.epi.org/publication/the-china-toll-deepens-growth-in-the-bilateral-trade-deficit-between-2001-and-2017-cost-3-4-million-u-s-jobs-with-losses-in-every-state-and-congressional-district/|title=The China toll deepens: Growth in the bilateral trade deficit between 2001 and 2017 cost 3.4 million U.S. jobs, with losses in every state and congressional district|website=Economic Policy Institute|access-date=April 26, 2020|archive-date=January 15, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200115022951/https://www.epi.org/publication/the-china-toll-deepens-growth-in-the-bilateral-trade-deficit-between-2001-and-2017-cost-3-4-million-u-s-jobs-with-losses-in-every-state-and-congressional-district/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Economic Policy Institute">{{Cite web|url=https://www.epi.org/publication/standard-models-benchmark-costs-globalization/|title=Using standard models to benchmark the costs of globalization for American workers without a college degree|website=Economic Policy Institute|access-date=April 26, 2020|archive-date=May 8, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200508124822/https://www.epi.org/publication/standard-models-benchmark-costs-globalization/|url-status=live}}</ref> According to the Economic Policy Institute, the workers who lost their jobs in the manufacturing sector and who have to accept a reduction in their wages to find work in other sectors, are creating competition, that reduces the wages of workers already employed in these other sectors. The threat of [[offshoring]] of production facilities leads workers to accept wage cuts to keep their jobs.<ref name="Economic Policy Institute"/>

According to the Economic Policy Institute, trade agreements have not reduced trade deficits but rather increased them. The growing [[trade deficit]] with China comes from China's manipulation of its [[currency]], dumping policies, subsidies, [[trade]] barriers that give it a very important advantage in international trade. In addition, industrial jobs lost by imports from China are significantly better paid than jobs created by exports to China. So even if imports were equal to exports, workers would still lose out on their wages.<ref name="Epi.org">{{cite web |url=https://www.epi.org/publication/trading-manufacturing-advantage-china-trade/ |title=Trading away the manufacturing advantage: China trade drives down U.S. wages and benefits and eliminates good jobs for U.S. workers &#124; Economic Policy Institute |publisher=Epi.org |access-date=2019-10-07 |archive-date=April 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200418060958/https://www.epi.org/publication/trading-manufacturing-advantage-china-trade/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the Economic Policy Institute, the manufacturing sector is a sector with very high [[productivity]] growth, which promotes high wages and good benefits for its workers. Indeed, this sector accounts for more than two thirds of private sector research and development and employs more than twice as many scientists and engineers as the rest of the economy. The manufacturing sector therefore provides a very important stimulus to overall economic growth. Manufacturing is also associated with well-paid service jobs such as accounting, business management, research and development and legal services. [[Deindustrialisation]] is therefore also leading to a significant loss of these service jobs. Deindustrialization thus means the disappearance of a very important driver of economic growth.<ref name="Epi.org"/>

In 2010, [[Paul Krugman]] called for a general tariff rate of 25% on all Chinese products to halt the deindustrialization of the United States and the offshoring of American industries and factories to China. Paul Krugman notes that the trade deficit caused by free trade has been detrimental to the U.S. manufacturing sector: “There is no doubt that increased imports, particularly from China, have reduced manufacturing employment..., the complete elimination of the U.S. manufacturing trade deficit would add about two million manufacturing jobs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Krugman |first=Paul |date=2016-07-04 |title=Opinion {{!}} Trump, Trade and Workers |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/opinion/trump-trade-and-workers.html |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241204094645/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/04/opinion/trump-trade-and-workers.html |archive-date=2024-12-04 |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Trump, Trade and Workers |url=https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2016/07/paul-krugman-trump-trade-and-workers.html |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=economistsview.typepad.com}}</ref> He expected Chinese surpluses to destroy 1.4 million American jobs by 2011. He therefore proposed taxing the products of certain countries to force them to readjust their currencies.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Krugman |first=Paul |date=2010-03-15 |title=Opinion {{!}} Taking On China |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/opinion/15krugman.html?src=me |url-status=live |archive-url=http://web.archive.org/web/20241209091243/https://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/opinion/15krugman.html?src=me |archive-date=2024-12-09 |access-date=2024-12-13 |work=The New York Times |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Economist's View: Paul Krugman: Taking On China |url=https://economistsview.typepad.com/economistsview/2010/09/paul-krugman-taking-on-china.html |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=economistsview.typepad.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Krugman |first=Paul |date=2009-12-31 |title=Macroeconomic effects of Chinese mercantilism |url=https://archive.nytimes.com/krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/31/macroeconomic-effects-of-chinese-mercantilism/ |access-date=2024-12-13 |website=Paul Krugman Blog |language=en}}</ref>

===Outcomes===
[[File:2020 census reapportionment.svg|thumb|Every state that lost a House seat due to population loss following the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]], except [[California]], is part of the Rust Belt.]]
In 1999, [[Francis Fukuyama]] wrote that the social and cultural consequences of deindustrialization and manufacturing decline that turned a former thriving Factory Belt into a Rust Belt as a part of a bigger transitional trend that he called the ''Great Disruption'':<ref>Fukuyama, Francis. ''The Great Disruption: Human Nature and the Reconstitution of Social Order''. New York: Free Press, 1999.</ref> "People associate the information age with the advent of the Internet in the 1990s, but the shift from the industrial era started more than a generation earlier, with the deindustrialization of the Rust Belt in the United States and comparable movements away from manufacturing in other industrialized countries. … The decline is readily measurable in statistics on crime, fatherless children, broken trust, reduced opportunities for and outcomes from education, and the like".<ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Fukuyama |first=Francis |date=May 1999 |title=Human Nature and the Reconstruction of Social Order |url=https://spot.colorado.edu/~mcguire/disruption.htm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180715074054/http://www.wesjones.com/fukuyama.htm |archive-date=2018-07-15 |access-date=2024-12-13 |magazine=The Atlantic |pages=55–80 |volume=283 |issue=5}}</ref>

Problems associated with the Rust Belt persist even today, particularly around the eastern Great Lakes states, and many once-booming manufacturing metropolises dramatically slowed down.<ref>Feyrer, James, Bruce Sacerdote, and Ariel Dora Stern. [https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=/journals/brookings-wharton_papers_on_urban_affairs/v2007/2007.1saiz.pdf Did the Rust Belt Become Shiny? A Study of Cities and Counties That Lost Steel and Auto Jobs in the 1980s] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305003441/https://muse.jhu.edu/login?auth=0&type=summary&url=%2Fjournals%2Fbrookings-wharton_papers_on_urban_affairs%2Fv2007%2F2007.1saiz.pdf |date=March 5, 2016 }}. ''Brookings-Wharton Papers on Urban Affairs'' (2007): 41–102.</ref> From 1970 to 2006, Cleveland, Detroit, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh lost about 45% of their population and median household incomes fell: in Cleveland and Detroit by about 30%, in Buffalo by 20%, and Pittsburgh by 10%.<ref>Daniel Hartley. "Urban Decline in Rust-Belt Cities." Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland Economic Commentary, Number 2013-06, May 20, 2013. [https://web.archive.org/web/20130730195948/http://www.clevelandfed.org/research/commentary/2013/2013-06.pdf PDF]</ref>

During the mid-1990s, several Rust Belt metropolitan areas experienced a suspension in negative growth, indicated by stabilizing unemployment, wages, and populations.<ref>Glenn King. Census Brief: "Rust Belt" Rebounds, CENBR/98-7, Issued December 1998. [https://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/cenbr987.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180718104854/https://www.census.gov/prod/99pubs/cenbr987.pdf |date=July 18, 2018 }}</ref> During the first decade of the 21st century, however, a negative trend still persisted: Detroit, Michigan lost 25.7% of its population; Gary, Indiana, 22%; Youngstown, Ohio, 18.9%; Flint, Michigan, 18.7%; and Cleveland, Ohio, 14.5%.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323687604578467134234625160 |title=Mark Peters, Jack Nicas. "Rust Belt Reaches for Immigration Tide", ''The Wall Street Journal'', May 13, 2013, A3. |work=Wall Street Journal |date=May 12, 2013 |access-date=August 8, 2017 |archive-date=December 27, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191227004220/https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323687604578467134234625160 |url-status=live |last1=Peters |first1=Mark |last2=Nicas |first2=Jack }}</ref>

{| class="wikitable sortable mw-collapsible" border="1" style="text-align:right"
|+2000–2020 population change in Rust Belt cities
|-
! rowspan="2" | City
! rowspan="2" | State
! colspan="4" | Population
|-
! change !! 2020<ref name="USCensusEst2018">{{cite web |title=City and Town Population Totals: 2020-2021 |url=https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html |access-date=March 12, 2023 |website=United States Census Bureau |archive-date=July 11, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711040810/https://www.census.gov/data/tables/time-series/demo/popest/2020s-total-cities-and-towns.html |url-status=live }}</ref>!! 2000
! Peak
|-
| align=left| [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]] || [[Michigan]] || -32.81%|| 639,111 || 951,270
|1,849,568 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Gary, Indiana]] || [[Indiana]] || -31.97% || 69,903 || 102,746
|178,320 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Flint, Michigan]] || Michigan || -34.97% || 81,252 || 124,943
|196,940 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Saginaw, Michigan]] || Michigan || -28.47% || 44,202 || 61,799
|98,265 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Youngstown, Ohio]] || [[Ohio]] || -26.77% || 60,068 || 82,026
|170,002 (1930)
|-
| align=left| [[Cleveland|Cleveland, Ohio]] || Ohio || -22.11% || 372,624 || 478,403
|914,808 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Dayton, Ohio]] || Ohio || -17.17% || 137,644 || 166,179
|262,332 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Niagara Falls, New York]] || [[New York (state)|New York]] || -12.45% || 48,671 || 55,593
|102,394 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Baltimore, Maryland]] || [[Maryland]] || -5.7% || 585,708 || 620,961
|949,708 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[St. Louis|St. Louis, Missouri]] || [[Missouri]] || -13.39% || 301,578 || 348,189
|856,796 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Decatur, Illinois]] || [[Illinois]] || -13.85% || 70,522 || 81,860
|94,081 (1980)
|-
| align=left| [[Canton, Ohio]] || Ohio || -12.29% || 70,872 || 80,806 
|116,912 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Buffalo, New York]] || New York || -4.89% || 278,349 || 292,648
|580,132 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Toledo, Ohio]] || Ohio || -13.63% || 270,871 || 313,619	
|383,818 (1970)
|-
| align=left| [[Lakewood, Ohio]] || Ohio || -10.07% || 50,942 || 56,646	
|70,509 (1930)
|-
| align=left| [[Pittsburgh|Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania]] || [[Pennsylvania]] || -9.44% || 302,971 || 334,563
|676,806 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Pontiac, Michigan]] || Michigan || -7.13% || 61,606 || 66,337
|85,279 (1970)
|-
| align=left| [[Springfield, Ohio]] || Ohio || -10.25% || 58,662 || 65,358
|82,723 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Akron, Ohio]] || Ohio || -12.26% || 190,469 || 217,074
|290,351 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Hammond, Indiana]] || Indiana || -6.22% || 77,879 || 83,048
|111,698 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Cincinnati|Cincinnati, Ohio]] || Ohio || -6.63% || 309,317 || 331,285
|503,998 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[Parma, Ohio]] || Ohio || -5.26% || 81,146 || 85,655
|100,216 (1970)
|-
| align=left| [[Lorain, Ohio]] || Ohio || -6.74% || 64,028 || 68,652
|78,185 (1970)
|-
| align=left| [[Chicago|Chicago, Illinois]] || Illinois || -5.17% || 2,746,388 || 2,896,016
|3,620,962 (1950)
|-
| align=left| [[South Bend, Indiana]] || Indiana || -4.02% || 103,453 || 107,789
|132,445 (1960)
|-
| align=left| [[Charleston, West Virginia]] || [[West Virginia]] || -8.53% || 48,864|| 53,421
|85,796 (1960)
|}

In the late 2000s, American manufacturing recovered faster from the [[Great Recession]] of 2008 than the other sectors of the economy,<ref>{{cite news|title=Rustbelt recovery: Against all the odds, American factories are coming back to life. Thank the rest of the world for that|url=https://www.economist.com/node/18332894|access-date=September 21, 2011|newspaper=The Economist|date=March 10, 2011|archive-date=July 24, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724221826/http://www.economist.com/node/18332894|url-status=live}} [http://www.acmeind.com/wp-content/uploads/Economist_Rustbelt_Recovery_031011.pdf PDF] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170611024302/http://www.acmeind.com/wp-content/uploads/Economist_Rustbelt_Recovery_031011.pdf |date=June 11, 2017 }}</ref> and a number of initiatives, both public and private, are encouraging the development of alternative fuel, nano and other technologies.<ref>{{cite news|title=Greening the rustbelt: In the shadow of the climate bill, the industrial Midwest begins to get ready|url=https://www.economist.com/node/14214855|access-date=September 21, 2011|newspaper=The Economist|date=August 13, 2009|archive-date=February 16, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180216210318/http://www.economist.com/node/14214855|url-status=live}}</ref> 

Along with the neighboring [[Golden Horseshoe]] of southern [[Ontario]], the Rust Belt composes one of the world's major manufacturing regions.<ref>{{cite web|last=Beyers|first=William|title=Major Manufacturing Regions of the World|url=https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:fnpUF-Xs3KYJ:faculty.washington.edu/beyers/Chapter7_Warf.ppt+manufacturing+regions+of+the+world&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgeUfyEVJ5-UCp5x3EGgctSVlVRoGItKLn-AVIw0gHisfIXJfVXNS0dClkwio0EWrpZ3SoH8Pfw2z0ryZ2eV8thdhyVXBYU3abQthuNuf8L4Dkj1O1DhZ22H7OWQNI_K9VdPqPX&sig=AHIEtbTNoQ3I1K5J25TpcXYenB0tMs3lIg|publisher=Department of Geography, the University of Washington|access-date=September 21, 2011|archive-date=December 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211224173113/https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache%3AfnpUF-Xs3KYJ%3Afaculty.washington.edu%2Fbeyers%2FChapter7_Warf.ppt+manufacturing+regions+of+the+world&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgeUfyEVJ5-UCp5x3EGgctSVlVRoGItKLn-AVIw0gHisfIXJfVXNS0dClkwio0EWrpZ3SoH8Pfw2z0ryZ2eV8thdhyVXBYU3abQthuNuf8L4Dkj1O1DhZ22H7OWQNI_K9VdPqPX&sig=AHIEtbTNoQ3I1K5J25TpcXYenB0tMs3lIg|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20230213085028/http://www.maderacountyedc.com/mcedc_feb2013/mfg213.pdf Rust Belt is still the heart of U.S. manufacturing]</ref>

===Transformation===
Delving into the past and musing on the future of Rust Belt states, a 2010 [[Brookings Institution]] report suggests that the Great Lakes region has a sizable potential for transformation, citing already existing global trade networks, clean energy/low carbon capacity, developed innovation infrastructure, and higher educational network.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Vey |first1=Jennifer S. |last2=Austin |first2=John C. |last3=Bradley |first3=Jennifer |date=September 27, 2010 |title=The Next Economy: Economic Recovery and Transformation in the Great Lakes Region |url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-next-economy-economic-recovery-and-transformation-in-the-great-lakes-region/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116001246/https://www.brookings.edu/research/the-next-economy-economic-recovery-and-transformation-in-the-great-lakes-region/ |archive-date=November 16, 2018 |access-date=May 25, 2020 |publisher=Brookings Institution Paper}}</ref>

Different strategies were proposed in order to reverse the fortunes of the former Factory Belt including building casinos and convention centers, retaining the creative class through arts and downtown renewal, encouraging the knowledge economy type of entrepreneurship, and other steps. This includes growing new industrial base with a pool of skilled labor, rebuilding the infrastructure and infrasystems, creating research and development-focused university-business partnerships, and close cooperation between central, state and local government, and business.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Kotkin |first1=Joel |last2=Schill |first2=March |last3=Streeter |first3=Ryan |date=February 2012 |title=Clues From The Past: The Midwest As An Aspirational Region |url=http://www.newgeography.com/files/MIDWEST-ASPIRATIONAL-REGION-2012.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200601103914/http://www.newgeography.com/files/MIDWEST-ASPIRATIONAL-REGION-2012.pdf |archive-date=June 1, 2020 |access-date=June 7, 2013 |publisher=Sagamore Institute}}</ref>

New types of research and development-intensive nontraditional manufacturing have emerged recently in the Rust Belt, including [[biotechnology]], the [[Polymer science|polymer]] industry, [[Information technology|infotech]], and [[Nanotechnology|nanotech]]. [[Information technology]] is seen as representing an opportunity for the Rust Belt's revitalization.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 19, 2013 |title=Silicon Rust Belt » Rethink The Rust Belt |url=http://siliconrustbelt.com/rethink-the-rust-belt/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821111513/http://siliconrustbelt.com/rethink-the-rust-belt/ |archive-date=August 21, 2018 |access-date=May 29, 2013}}</ref> Among the successful recent examples is the [[Detroit Aircraft Corporation]], which specializes in unmanned aerial systems integration, testing and aerial cinematography services.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.iflyasx.com/|title=ASX – Airspace Experience Technologies – Detroit MI – VTOL|website=ASX|access-date=June 23, 2019|archive-date=June 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200613210358/https://www.iflyasx.com/|url-status=live}}</ref>

In Pittsburgh, robotics research centers and companies such as the [[National Robotics Engineering Center]] and [[Robotics Institute]], Aethon Inc., American Robot Corporation, [[Automatika]], [[Quantapoint]], Blue Belt Technologies, and Seegrid are creating state-of-the-art robotic technology applications. [[Akron, Ohio|Akron]], a former "Rubber Capital of the World" that lost 35,000 jobs after major tire and rubber manufacturers [[Goodrich Corporation|Goodrich]], [[Firestone Tire and Rubber Company|Firestone]], and [[General Tire]] closed their production lines, is now again well known around the world as a center of polymer research with four hundred polymer-related manufacturing and distribution companies operating in the area. The turnaround was accomplished in part by a partnership between [[Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company|Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company]], which chose to stay, the [[University of Akron]], and the city mayor's office. The Akron Global Business Accelerator that jump-started a score of successful business ventures in Akron resides in the refurbished B.F. Goodrich tire factory.<ref>{{cite news |author=Sherry Karabin |url=http://www.akronlegalnews.com/editorial/7004 |title=Mayor says attitude is key to Akron's revitalization |website=The Akron Legal News |date=May 16, 2013 |access-date=June 6, 2013 |archive-date=July 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170715070514/http://www.akronlegalnews.com/editorial/7004 |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[3D printing|Additive manufacturing, or 3D printing]], creates another promising avenue for the manufacturing resurgence. Such companies as MakerGear from [[Beachwood, Ohio]], or ExOne Company from [[North Huntingdon Township, Pennsylvania|North Huntingdon, Pennsylvania]], are designing and manufacturing industrial and consumer products using 3-D imaging systems.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.post-gazette.com/business/businessnews/2013/06/13/Conference-in-Pittsburgh-shows-growing-allure-of-3-D-printing/stories/201306130342 |title=Conference in Pittsburgh shows growing allure of 3-D printing |author=Len Boselovic |publisher=Pittsburgh Post-Gazette |date=June 13, 2013 |access-date=May 25, 2020 |archive-date=December 30, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171230075311/http://www.post-gazette.com/business/businessnews/2013/06/13/Conference-in-Pittsburgh-shows-growing-allure-of-3-D-printing/stories/201306130342 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 2013, ''[[The Economist]]'' reported a growing trend of [[Insourcing#Terminology|reshoring]], or [[inshoring]], of manufacturing when a growing number of American companies were moving their production facilities from overseas back home.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21569570-growing-number-american-companies-are-moving-their-manufacturing-back-united |title=Coming home: A growing number of American companies are moving their manufacturing back to the United States |newspaper=The Economist |date=January 19, 2013 |access-date=June 20, 2013 |archive-date=June 22, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130622030754/http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21569570-growing-number-american-companies-are-moving-their-manufacturing-back-united |url-status=live }}</ref> Rust Belt states can ultimately benefit from this process of international [[insourcing]].

There have also been attempts to reinvent properties in the Rust Belt in order to reverse its economic decline. Buildings with compartmentalization unsuitable for today's uses were acquired and renewed to facilitate new businesses. These business activities suggest that the revival is taking place in the once-stagnant area.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/rust-belt-states-reinvent-their-abandoned-industrial-landscapes-1.3746893|title=Rust Belt states reinvent their abandoned industrial landscapes|last1=Dayton|first1=Stephen Starr in|last2=Ohio|newspaper=The Irish Times|language=en|date=January 5, 2019|access-date=January 26, 2020|archive-date=November 7, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107234522/https://www.irishtimes.com/business/economy/rust-belt-states-reinvent-their-abandoned-industrial-landscapes-1.3746893|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[CHIPS and Science Act]], which became effective in August 2022, was designed to rebuild the manufacturing sector with thousands of jobs and research programs in states like Ohio focusing on making products like semiconductors due to the [[2020–2023 global chip shortage|global chip shortage of the early 2020s]].<ref name="NBC News 2022">{{cite web | title=Biden touts computer chips bill in battleground Ohio amid tight Senate race | website=NBC News | date=September 9, 2022 | url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-tout-computer-chips-bill-battleground-ohio-tight-senate-race-rcna46986 | access-date=October 11, 2022 | archive-date=October 10, 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221010221119/https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/white-house/biden-tout-computer-chips-bill-battleground-ohio-tight-senate-race-rcna46986 | url-status=live }}</ref>