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Economics’ Susan Helper says tariffs may be driving auto-sector job gains

Media | August 19, 2026 | Story by: Editorial Staff
Media Expert: Susan Helper

American manufacturers are hiring again. Could tariffs be the reason?

The Washington Post: Susan Helper, the Frank Tracy Carlton Professor of Economics at Weatherhead School of Management, said tariffs are “somewhere between possible and likely” to be driving auto-sector job gains by encouraging substitution of foreign production with domestic production.