He may be too late. An Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid on a Hyundai-LG plant earlier this month, in which 475 workers, many of them South Korean, were detained in shackles, has already prompted South Korean businesses to suspend at least 22 projects in the U.S. cumulatively worth more than $100 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The sticking power behind Trump\u2019s statement remains speculative. But it is evident that such a policy redirect is necessary to restore foreign investment and revitalize the U.S. manufacturing sector, which has suffered from decades of offshoring. Even Trump has acknowledged that Americans lack the technical skills required for redeveloping the type of large-scale domestic production he envisions in strategic sectors, such as electric vehicles and semiconductors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To realize Trump\u2019s vision of a manufacturing revival, the U.S. government must undertake comprehensive visa reforms for short-term technical workers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/a><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n The current reliance on the H-1B visa program, which is capped at 85,000 annually and subject to a lottery system, creates uncertainty for foreign firms investing in U.S. manufacturing. Due to the limited availability of those visas, some firms like Hyundai are resorting to using B1 and B1\/B2 visas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The use of B1\/B2 visas for technical work, such as the kind the Hyundai workers were doing, falls into a gray legal area that invites immigration enforcement actions. They are intended only for short-term business and tourism-related travel\u2014not for active employment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n South Korea has offered a potential solution. Last week, it proposed a dedicated E-visa quota for short-term technicians, in hopes that would allow it to follow through with its $350 billion investment in the U.S. that its tariff relief <\/a>is predicated upon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Taiwan\u2019s TSMC provides a model for managing foreign labor through the existing E-visa program. Approximately half of the workforce at its Arizona plant comprises Taiwanese nationals hired under the E-visa framework. U.S. labor unions have criticized this approach\u2014but TSMC justifies it as a temporary necessity. There simply aren\u2019t enough skilled domestic workers: Nearly half a million<\/a> manufacturing jobs are unfilled in the U.S. right now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n TSMC has also engaged<\/a> in proactive communication with U.S. agencies and lawmakers, including Sen. Mark Kelly (D., Ariz.), to ensure that visa applications are evaluated on merit and within legal frameworks. The company has emphasized to U.S. lawmakers the complexity of building semiconductor fabs and framed its foreign labor importation as a temporary measure<\/a> to train U.S. employees, with the goal of gradually localizing the workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Contrast that with Hyundai. It used third-party subcontractors to hire foreign nationals on apparently inappropriate visas. The ICE raid at its Georgia plant not only disrupted operations, but it also triggered diplomatic fallout between the U.S. and South Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"call](\"https:\/\/assets.msn.com\/staticsb\/statics\/latest\/views\/icons\/ChevronRightWhiteBold.svg\"){kind=icon}
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n