America’s Manufacturing Future Starts With Industrial Hemp | Opinion
America is making a costly mistake by treating industrial hemp as just another crop. It is an industrial material that can strengthen manufacturing, create jobs, reduce dependence on imported raw materials, and help build more resilient supply chains. If we keep limiting hemp to an agricultural debate, we will hand another major manufacturing opportunity to other countries. If we build the industries that process and manufacture hemp-based products here at home, America wins.
Congress already has an opportunity to move in that direction. The bipartisan Biobased Materials Investment and Production Act introduced by Congresswoman Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) and Congresswoman Michelle Fischbach (MN-07) proposes tax incentives to expand domestic production of plant-based materials and chemicals. It recognizes a simple fact: growing raw materials is not enough. Countries create lasting economic strength by turning those materials into finished products, advanced technologies, and manufacturing industries.
I have spent my career helping organizations build businesses around emerging technologies. One lesson has remained true across every industry: breakthroughs do not create economic leadership by themselves. Infrastructure does. Manufacturing does. Investment does. Entire industrial ecosystems, not individual products, are what create long-term prosperity.
Opinion
History makes that clear. Steel transformed America because we built mills, transportation networks, engineering expertise, and factories around it. Silicon changed the world because we invested in manufacturing, research, and technology that turned a raw material into an entire economy. Industrial hemp deserves the same approach. The crop is only the beginning. The real opportunity is everything built after the harvest.
Hemp already has practical uses in construction materials, advanced composites, textiles, packaging, paper alternatives, and other manufactured products that can reduce dependence on petroleum-based materials. Research published in the journal Advanced Composites and Hybrid Materials in October 2025 documents its expanding role across industries ranging from automotive manufacturing to construction and biofuels. None of those markets grow without processing facilities, engineers, manufacturers, logistics, and investment. The value is created in the factory, not the field.
That is why this debate matters to every American, not only farmers. Manufacturing supports communities, creates skilled jobs, strengthens national resilience, and gives businesses more reliable access to critical materials. Recent supply chain disruptions exposed how vulnerable the United States becomes when too much production depends on foreign suppliers. Building domestic capacity is no longer optional. It is an economic and strategic necessity.
The alternative is clear. If America fails to invest, other countries will build the processing plants, develop the technologies, secure the patents, and capture the high-value manufacturing jobs. American farmers will continue selling raw materials while others profit from turning them into finished products. We have watched this story play out before in industry after industry. There is no reason to repeat it.
The better path is just as clear. Build processing facilities. Expand manufacturing capacity. Invest in engineering, research, and workforce development. Encourage entrepreneurs to create companies that solve real industrial problems. Support manufacturers willing to replace imported materials with products made in America. Those investments would strengthen rural economies while creating opportunities for engineers, technicians, manufacturers, and businesses across the country.
Industrial hemp should not be viewed as an environmental trend or a niche agricultural product. It should be treated as a strategic manufacturing resource. Countries that control advanced materials will shape the next generation of industrial production. America has the land, the talent, and the market demand to compete. What has been missing is the commitment to build the industrial foundation that allows the sector to grow.
The choice is straightforward. We can continue exporting opportunities while importing products made somewhere else, or we can build the factories, technologies, and supply chains that keep innovation and manufacturing in the United States.
Congress should pass policies that accelerate domestic biomanufacturing. Investors should back companies building the industrial infrastructure. Manufacturers should integrate hemp into their long-term material strategies. Entrepreneurs should build the businesses that turn this resource into products people use every day. America has everything it needs to lead. The only question is whether we will choose to build.
David M. Klein is the managing member of DMKlein & Associates, where he advises emerging growth companies on strategy, operations, branding, and commercialization. Klein has worked with companies, investors, and leadership teams navigating expansion, restructuring, and market transformation.
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
