A mixed bag of subject matter attracted the attention of our IndustryWeek manufacturing community in this first IW's Weekly Review of September. Tariffs and an audit grabbed the top spots in this look at the most-consumed content over the past seven days, but a widening trade gap, an abandoned acquisition and a big Kentucky investment also drew lots of interest. Our Top 10 are: 

Take Reversible Actions to Manage a Fluid Tariff Environment: For more agile organizations, they carry real costs but far smaller write-downs if the environment shifts again.

Ohio Manufacturing Extension Partnership Audit Highlights Errors—and Raises Questions of Unfair Targeting: The $175 million federal MEP program helps small and medium-sized manufacturers in the United States.

Labor Day Quiz: Test Your Smarts About Worker History: Labor Day honors and celebrates American workers. How much do you know about Labor Day, and pivotal events in union history?

Solstice Abandons $14B Element Solutions Acquisition After Investor Pressure: The boards of both companies say they’ll refocus on their independent paths and not owe the other any fees related to the deal being called off.

GE Appliances to Invest $1 Billion to Expand Laundry Manufacturing at Kentucky’s Appliance Park: The announcement builds on a $490 million investment announced last year to reshore production of select clothes washers from China.

Stop Cutting People. Start Cutting Complexity: Traditional cost-cutting often disappoints, as the company removes people but the dysfunctional systems remain.

Manufacturing Day 2026: Help IndustryWeek Tell the Stories of Manufacturing: We invite you to contribute to our coverage. Here's how.

US Trade Gap in July Widens to Biggest in Over a Year: Imports rose 2.8% to $399.3 billion, bolstered by computers, computer accessories and semiconductors.

Auto Supplier CEOs: There Will and Needs to be More Consolidation: Speaking to a recent investor conference, executives also spoke about plans to diversify their revenues away from vehicles.

Building a Better Small Manufacturers Ecosystem: In this episode of Great Question: A Manufacturing Podcast, Ilana Preuss of Recast City discusses regional collaboration, outreach and advocacy, and how manufacturers of any size can help increase the visibility of the small supplier community.