Reshoring Takes 3 Years. Your Window Is Now

Export Trails

Reshoring Takes 3 Years. Your Window Is Now.

Issue #4 | April 13, 2026 | Rural Exports

Reshoring is the biggest story in American manufacturing right now. ISM says the sector just posted its third straight month of expansion — the strongest since 2022. GlobalFoundries is putting $16 billion into domestic chip production. Stellantis committed $13 billion. Johnson & Johnson, $55 billion. The SBA just launched a dedicated loan guarantee for manufacturers and waived fees for the first time.

The headlines make it sound like the hard part is over. It isn't.

Building a factory takes one to three years. Filling it with workers takes longer. And none of that solves the part most people skip: once the product is made, somebody has to get it to the buyer.

That's the gap. And that's where small and mid-sized American producers have a window right now that won't stay open forever.

—Robyn

THE GAP NOBODY'S TALKING ABOUT

Two million reshoring jobs have been announced since 2010. "Announced" and "filled" are two different things.

Rural areas are the hardest hit by manufacturing labor shortages. Skilled workers are in such short supply that job searches regularly stretch past 60 days. Over the next decade, 3.8 million manufacturing jobs will be needed. Nearly half — 1.9 million — are expected to go unfilled.

Meanwhile, 60% of companies say full reshoring will take one to three years. The share saying longer than three years has more than doubled in the past year.

The math: demand exists now. Buyers — domestic and international — are looking for American-made goods now. But the big reshoring facilities won't be producing at scale for years.

Someone has to fill that gap.

THE WINDOW FOR SMALL OPERATORS

If you're already making product — even at modest volume — this is your window.

The companies spending billions on new facilities are not your competition right now. They're your future competition. Right now, they're pouring concrete. You're shipping product.

The SBA's new Made in America Loan Guarantee is designed for exactly this moment. The program waives loan fees for small manufacturers and provides dedicated financing to scale domestic operations. There's also a new portal — the SBA's onshoring database — connecting small businesses with over one million domestic suppliers.

Two moves available right now:

Grow domestically. Demand for American-made products is running ahead of domestic supply. The producers who are already operational can capture market share the big players haven't entered yet. By the time those facilities come online, the operator who moved first has the customer relationships, the track record, and the leverage.

Expand into exports. American-origin goods carry a trust advantage and, in many corridors, a tariff advantage over Chinese-origin alternatives. European, African, and Latin American buyers are actively looking for non-Chinese sources. A producer who can demonstrate consistent quality and reliable delivery has access to international markets that were out of reach five years ago.

Both moves require the same thing: figuring out what labels and certifications your product needs for the target market, finding the right distributor or buyer, getting the product there reliably, and making sure you get paid. The product is the easy part. The road from your facility to the customer is where most producers get stuck. That's what Made to Scale was built for.

Source: SBA.gov, March 27 & March 31, 2026

Two new programs opening May 1 — one for producers, one for manufacturers — offering up to $5 million at 90% federal guarantee. The SBA also waived loan fees for small manufacturers in fiscal year 2026. Tax incentives include 100% expensing on factory equipment, no tax on overtime, and a permanent 20% small business deduction. Most of these incentives benefit large corporations. The SBA programs are the tools built for you. Use them.

THIS WEEK IN THE FIELD

USDA's April WASDE held corn and soybean stocks steady but cut soybean exports by 35 million bushels. Corn season-average price moved up to $4.15 per bushel. Soybeans to $10.30. Beef production lowered on reduced steer and heifer slaughter in the first half of the year, partially offset by heavier dressed weights.

Nearly 98% of the Southern region is in drought. Over a quarter of Texas and Oklahoma is in severe or exceptional drought — D3 and D4 categories. Wheat in the western Great Plains is stressed, some only three inches tall and already heading out. Some rain expected this week but the damage is accumulating.

Farm margins are compressed from both sides — input costs up, commodity prices flat. More farms are filing for bankruptcy while bank earnings on farm loans are rising. The producers in the strongest position right now are the ones who locked in financing, secured inputs early, and aren't waiting to see what happens next.

WHEN IT HITS: COORDINATION MATTERS

Every drought cycle, every wildfire season, every flood — the same thing happens. Fencing has to be rebuilt. Water infrastructure replaced. Feed sourced and moved. Equipment repaired or purchased. The gap isn't supply. American producers are already making what these regions need. The gap is getting the right materials to the right location on a compressed timeline when normal channels are overwhelmed.

Rural Exports operates an agricultural disaster relief coordination program for exactly this. We're also mapping what we're calling reconstruction zones — domestic regions recovering from disaster and international regions coming out of conflict or collapse — where sustained demand for American-made materials, equipment, and agricultural inputs is creating opportunity for the producers who are ready to fill it.

If your operation has been affected by drought, wildfire, or weather this season — or if you make the kind of product these regions need — that's a conversation we want to have.

BOTTOM LINE

Reshoring is real. The money is real. The demand is real. But the timeline is long and the gap is immediate. Nearly all of Texas and Oklahoma is in drought. Farms are under margin pressure. And the producers who are already here, already making product, and ready to scale — domestically and internationally — are the ones who will capture this moment.

The window is open. It won't be open forever.

Reply to this email if you're thinking about scaling, expanding into new markets, or if your operation needs disaster relief coordination this season.

Made to Scale — We help American producers get from proven product to premium shelf. The certifications, the distribution contacts, the freight, and the market entry strategy. Built around your product, not a platform's rules.

ruralexports.net

SOURCES

• ISM Manufacturing PMI, March 2026

• SBA Made in America Loan Guarantee & Grocery Guarantee, March 2026

• KPMG reshoring survey, February 2026

• Reshoring Initiative (2M+ jobs announced since 2010)

• Business Facilities Magazine, March/April 2026

• USDA WASDE, April 10, 2026

• U.S. Drought Monitor, April 7, 2026

• RFD News, farm economy and planting progress

• Association of Equipment Manufacturers

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