As U.S. manufacturers scramble to fill hundreds of thousands of open jobs, China is doubling down on its bid to become the world’s workshop, and industry experts say the stakes couldn’t be higher.

"If I had one of those big red bells in a fire department, I'd hit it with a hammer. I'd ring the alarm. This is it," Mike Rowe, CEO of the mikeroweWorks Foundation, warned Sunday on "One Nation with Brian Kilmeade."

Rowe warned of what he sees as an existential threat to America’s manufacturing base, pointing to a growing gap between open skilled trade jobs and the number of workers entering those fields.

Ford CEO Jim Farley echoed the concern, warning the U.S. is "in a war for manufacturing" as China rapidly expands its industrial capacity.

"We have about 400,000 people that we need," Far

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