U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio speaks in Cumberland County, Pa. on Oct. 23, 2025. Photo: Christina Lengyel / The Center Square
(The Center Square) – A congressman from western Pennsylvania believes a bold plan is needed to boost domestic manufacturing and thinks his series of bills could help.
Arguing that the current economic approach is failing, U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-17th District, unveiled his three-part “Build America Plan” last week, aimed at reindustrializing the United States.
“For too long, we’ve seen factories close, jobs shipped overseas, and entire American communities hollowed out alongside rising costs,” Deluzio said. “The United States used to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world—and I think it can be again if we stop letting our economic foes undercut us, fighting fire with fire, and make real investments in our workers.”
“I want the next generation to know and inherit an America that builds and creates amazing things,” he added.
The Build America Plan has three pillars, implemented through three bills.
The first pillar, “build it here,” is laid out in the Build America Fund Act. This proposal would create a Manufacturing Sovereign Wealth Fund to make direct investments and take equity stake in American manufacturing companies to bolster domestic manufacturing.
In a video announcing his proposal, Deluzio said this would be a way to “fight fire with fire against foreign competitors” and allow the U.S. to keep up with global competitors that subsidize their domestic industries.
This bill, Deluzio said, also would extend “direct benefits to all Americans” through the Build America Dividend, which would be an annual dividend paid out from the revenue raised in the Fund’s investments.
“America should not be so reliant on foreign suppliers for the products we need every day,” Deluzio said. “We should strengthen our supply chains, modernize our electric grid, and create good-paying jobs that can’t be shipped overseas.”
Declan Pape, President of IBEW Local 712, said that it’s currently “not a level playing field for the American worker.”
The Build America Fund Act is endorsed by a variety of labor unions, including the United Autoworkers (UAW), Teamsters, United Steelworkers (USW), and the AFL-CIO.
Teamsters General President Sean O’Brien said the legislation would “bring good union manufacturing jobs back to this country.”
“The United States is home to the most skilled manufacturers and tradespeople in the world—workers who deserve meaningful jobs, family-sustaining wages, and thriving local economies,” O’Brien said. “This bill marks a bold investment in Teamsters and their communities, and we’re proud to support it.”
The second pillar, which he dubs “build it strong,” is the introduction of the Pathway to Trades Act.
“A four-year degree is a great path for some people,” Deluzio said. “It shouldn’t be the only path.”
The proposal ties federal dollars to career and technical education and would increase students’ exposure to trade education in high schools.
“That means more classes, more mentors, and more funding for pathways other than college, so that our young folks have real options for their futures,” Deluzio said.
Ed Gerber, a coordinator with IBEW Local 712, believes it’s important to get that information to students so they realize that the building trades “isn’t a second option” for those who don’t want to go to college.
The third plan from Deluzio, which he says is to “build it right,” would prioritize building it “cleaner than anyone else,” in the Fighting Foreign Polluters Act.
This proposal, according to Deluzio, puts a fee on foreign polluters “flooding our markets with their high-emission products and dirtying our air and waters,” while specifying which goods are subject to this fee. This legislation also includes an incentive structure for domestic manufacturing.
“Let’s see what happens when you let this generation and the generations after this one start building and adapting and moving things forward,” said Aliquippa Mayor Dwan Walker. “Manufacturing could be the key to all that.”
David N. Taylor, President & CEO of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, believes that Deluzio is focusing on several of the most important issues facing manufacturing in the United States with his effort, while he specifically pinpointed “the challenge of building out the workforce, competing against nations that have lower (or zero) environmental protections, and predatory actions by foreign competitors, including state subsidies.”
“Giving technical education a special emphasis in the public schools is necessary and good,” Taylor said. “Levying countervailing tariffs or fines on foreign products made under lower environmental standards is also an excellent idea that should have been enacted long ago.”
However, he expressed concern about one of Deluzio’s specific proposals and its potential impact on private-sector employers.
“Regarding a sovereign wealth fund, the United States government will have to get involved in some key industries at critical times, such as what President Trump has done with Intel to ensure the U.S. has a sufficient supply of semiconductors and other computer chips,” Taylor said. “The degree of command-and-control envisioned by Rep. Deluzio’s plan seems to go further than that, which would be a concern for private sector employers.”
“Still, Rep. Deluzio is to be commended for raising these important issues, even if we don’t necessarily agree on all the details,” he added. “The sufficiency of domestic manufacturing and the integrity of our supply chains – especially for national security – cannot wait.”
Deluzio, serving his second term in Congress, has been an outspoken critic of President Donald Trump’s administration and his approach to tariffs, however, he’s also called on his Democratic colleagues to rethink their stances .
“Anti-tariff absolutism is a mistake,” Deluzio wrote in a New York Times op-ed published in March 2025.
The ad unveiling his latest proposals on boosting American manufacturing features clips of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, while Deluzio also argues his latest series of bills “rejects the era of half-measures and piecemeal tax credits.”
Since being sworn in, Deluzio also introduced his “Make Stuff Here Agenda” and is one of two elected officials from the state to sign on to a proposal that would raise the minimum wage to $25 an hour for large employers by 2031 and other employers by 2038.
Deluzio has also been critical of U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., and has been mentioned as a potential candidate for his seat in 2028.
