I can remember, in 1994, my father (a now retired federal agent) saying, “Clinton just destroyed America” when he signed NAFTA into effect. Here we are 26 years later and I just called my dad to tell him “you were right.”

As the world is in panic over the coronavirus and the reports get bleaker by the day, it’s time for America to ask itself, how did we get here? How did we become so vulnerable? How did we let go of the things that made us so proud of who we are?

In 1994 Clinton pushed NAFTA through opening the borders for trade and prosperity throughout North America. However, Clinton also greatly assisted drug smugglers and illegal immigrants alike - a problem that we are still fighting to this day.

When Americans accepted this drastic, radical change is when we allowed ourselves to be pushed around and settle and accept whatever was done that impacted our country over the long and short term.

Over the next 20 years following NAFTA, America’s largest companies began to slowly but surely take its manufacturing to the lowest bidder. This kept companies like Nike and Apple’s margins high and Americans just settled for it because who doesn’t need a new iPhone or a pair of Jordan shoes? While the front-facing companies of America went overseas to outsource cheaper labor, everyone else started to follow suit. Everyone, from our toy manufacturers to parts of the automobile industry, began to rely on China in particular and to top it all off, so did the generic drug manufacturers.

Now we are here sitting in the early stages of a pandemic that originated in Wuhan, China with a shortage of goods from… you guessed it - China.

Now is better than ever to bring back “Made in America” and re-establish the pride that goes along with having quality, American-made goods. Our reliance on China didn’t get us in this mess, but it also did not help in any way.

Over 80 percent of the active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) to make drugs in the United States come from China. Why are we okay with this? With prescription drug prices through the roof and the savings incurred by purchasing them from China only being seen on the drug manufacturer’s side, not the consumers, the only ones that benefit are the Chinese and the drug manufacturers.

The problem goes well beyond pharmaceuticals. The dependency on a communist country to produce goods for the land of the free needs to be put to an end. Bring manufacturing back home, make America great again, and god bless all of you in these times of uncertainty. Regardless of the situation, we will persevere. Stay safe, my fellow Americans.

Chip Cartwright - ThePatriotHill.com CEO