M&M manufacturer Mars pledges $2 billion to expand US production
Fox Business Correspondent Lauren Simonetti reports from the Lincoln Institute of Technology, discussing the future of US trade employment with regard to the “Craman Countdown.”
Mars, The prominent Kandi maker behind M&M and Skittleshas pledged to invest another $2 billion in domestic operations by the end of 2026 to build a more “resilient” US business.
The heavier investments announced Tuesday include a $240 million natural bakery facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, which is scheduled to open Wednesday. According to Mars, Nature’s bakery site, which weighs over 339,000 square feet, will help create more than 230 new jobs in the region and produce around 1 billion bars each year.
“The US is our biggest and most important market, a key engine for long-term growth, not just through the legacy manufacturing footprint, but also through the expansion of strategic acquisitions like the already rapidly expanding natural bakeries,” said Mars CFO Claus Aagaard.
The company said the announcement is based on more than $6 billion in investments made over the past five years to boost US production. Earlier this year, Mars opened a $450 million facility in Lewisburg, Ohio, creating up to 270 new jobs in the region for the Royal Canin Dry Pet Food brand.
The company said about 94% of Mars products sold in the US are produced locally in the US.
The Skittles Candy box will be on display at Costco Wholesale Stores in San Diego on July 12, 2025. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images/Getty Images)
The company is on an increasing list of organizations outlining new investments in US manufacturing that coincides with the Trump administration’s main objectives. It uses tariffs to encourage businesses to bring manufacturing back into American soil and reduce their dependence on foreign goods.
Several companies in the tech, pharmaceutical and automotive industries were announced in the first months of President Donald Trump’s second administration.
The administration previously touted “Trump is on a mission to make America the world’s manufacturing superpower.” Economist Michael Southernth considers bringing more manufacturers back to the US as a “valuable goal,” but he said it was “not time-consuming and painless.”
Peanuts M&M’s milk chocolate candy packaging is stacked on July 12, 2025 at Costco wholesale stores in San Diego. (Kevin Carter/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Eli Lilly is investing another $27 billion in US manufacturing
Early this year, Hyundai planned After investing $20 billion to bring manufacturing operations to the US General Motorssaid it will invest $4 billion in US factories over the next two years to boost the production of gas and electric vehicles.
Ge Aerospace announced Approximately $1 billion investment In US manufacturing, Eli Lilly announced that it is investing an additional $27 billion to boost domestic drug production, increasing its U.S. total manufacturing investment to more than $500 billion since 2020.
President Donald Trump announced a trade agreement with the EU after meeting with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at Trump Turnberry Golf Club in Turnberry, Scotland on July 27, 2025. (Andrew Harnik / Getty Images / Getty Images)
In February, Apple announced it had committed $500 billion over the next five years. This includes the construction of an advanced AI server manufacturing plant near Houston, and doubles the company’s Advanced Manufacturing Fund from $5 billion to $10 billion.
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“Building a senior factory like Chip Foundry can take years and cost billions of dollars,” Santo said. He said prices could rise in the short term as the US lacks “not to mention staff to build some factories.”
However, he said, “Our strength in manufacturing is that the US has the largest energy resources to drive factories cheaply,” and that “advances in automation and robotics will reduce staffing shortages in the future.”