Trump urges foreign firms to invest in US and train American workers

US President Donald Trump. File pic

US President Donald Trump on Sunday urged foreign companies investing in the United States to not only bring capital but also deploy experts to train American workers in advanced manufacturing, reported news agency ANI.

In a statement on Truth Social, Trump said the US needs to "relearn" critical skills in industries such as semiconductors, shipbuilding and high-tech machinery by learning directly from foreign firms making large-scale investments.

"When Foreign Companies who are building extremely complex products, machines, and various other ‘things,' come into the United States with massive Investments, I want them to bring their people of expertise for a period of time to teach and train our people how to make these very unique and complex products, as they phase out of our Country, and back into their land," Trump said.

He argued that knowledge transfer is vital to ensure long-term benefits of foreign investment and restore American industrial strength, ANI reported.

"If we didn't do this, all of that massive Investment will never come in the first place - Chips, Semiconductors, Computers, Ships, Trains, and so many other products that we have to learn from others how to make, or, in many cases, relearn, because we used to be great at it, but not anymore," he added.

Citing shipbuilding as an example, Trump noted that the US once built "a ship a day" but now "barely builds a ship a year", reported ANI. He maintained that temporary reliance on foreign expertise would eventually lead to independence and excellence.

"I don't want to frighten off or disincentivize 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!" Trump wrote.

The appeal comes as the US administration pushes to boost domestic manufacturing amid global economic concerns linked to tariffs imposed by Washington.

Earlier this month, Trump said some firms were building products in the US to avoid tariffs and take advantage of protective policies.

"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 said at a White House press conference.

(With ANI inputs)