When foreign companies are making, not killing, US jobs

Attacks on trading partners could set off a protectionist spiral of tariffs & import restrictions

At the airport here, there is a reminder to travellers of the jobs that global trade can bring. A shiny 2017 Volkswagen Passat is stationed near the entryway and labelled: “Designed in Germany. Built in Chattanooga.”

The American map is dotted with towns drained of jobs after homegrown factories bolted to lower-wage countries. But for many spots throughout the country, the same strategy of moving operations overseas — when practiced by foreign firms — has buoyed local fortunes.

In Chattanooga and the surrounding region, for example, more than two dozen companies from 20 countries have set up shop, generating billions