Navigating Tariffs and Automation: The Future of U.S. Manufacturing

The president of A3, Jeff Burnstein, discusses how tariffs, labor challenges and advances in robotics are driving automation adoption among U.S. manufacturers, particularly small and medium-size enterprises, shaping a safer and more competitive industrial landscape.

Sharon Spielman

May 13, 2025

Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation (A3), sat down with Machine Design a couple weeks before the Automate Show in Detroit to share his expert perspective on how the U.S. Industrial sector faces potential challenges from tariffs and the accelerating wave of automation technologies.

Amid uncertain trade policies, Burnstein highlights a promising future for robotics adoption, especially within small and medium-sized enterprises that have yet to embrace automation. He talks about the critical role of automation and tackling labor shortages, improving workplace safety and driving economic revitalization by reshoring manufacturing jobs.

The conversation also explores how advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics could inadvertently accelerate automation, raising important questions about job impacts. He says that automation, coupled with stringent safety standards and groundbreaking updates to robotic regulations, will be essential to fostering competitive, sustainable manufacturing ecosystems.

For more show coverage, be sure to check out Machine Design’s Automate 2025 content hub.

About the Author

Sharon Spielman

Technical Editor, Machine Design

As Machine Design’s technical editor, Sharon Spielman produces content for the brand’s focus audience—design and multidisciplinary engineers. Her beat includes 3D printing/CAD; mechanical and motion systems, with an emphasis on pneumatics and linear motion; automation; robotics; and CNC machining.

Spielman has more than three decades of experience as a writer and editor for a range of B2B brands, including those that cover machine design; electrical design and manufacturing; interconnection technology; food and beverage manufacturing; process heating and cooling; finishing; and package converting.

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