ICYMI: NAM’s Jay Timmons Discusses Trade Negotiations, Tax Reform, China on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange”
Watch Jay Timmons on “Worldwide Exchange”
Timmons on the Next 100 Days of the Trump Administration
“There’s a lot of focus on the first 100 days—what’s been accomplished. I think to judge this administration, we’re going to have to really look at the next 100 days because the president has laid out so many things that are going to take a little bit of time to take effect. And manufacturers are very interested in seeing the results of tax reform legislation, regulatory rebalancing and then, of course, those 200 trade deals that the president is talking about.”
Timmons on China, Trade Negotiations
“China is not the be-all and end-all of manufacturing in the world. It’s a large economy, sure, there’s no question about that, but I think it’s more important to focus on the other deals that the administration is touting or talking about right now. Secretary Lutnick talked about a deal that seems to be done that apparently the country with whom we’re negotiating is going to be ratifying that at the end of those 90 days that the administration talked about. Manufacturers want to see real, solid deals done with countries all around the world, and that means probably more than a Memorandum of Understanding. That really means ratification by the other countries’ governments as well as some sort of action by our Congress. That provides the certainty that manufacturers need moving forward.
“With regard to China—look, we know we have an issue with China. China cheats, plain and simple. They’ve taken our intellectual property, they’ve dumped, they’ve subsidized. So I think it’s important to get tough on China so that we can counter their nonmarket activities that have, frankly, distorted the world economy.”
Timmons on Tax Reform, Regulatory Rebalancing, Manufacturing Investment
“[W]e need a comprehensive manufacturing strategy. We haven’t had one in this country for decades, and that starts with lowering the cost of doing business. … We have got a very competitive corporate tax rate right now. We need to keep that intact. We need to keep intact the pass-through deduction for small manufacturers. And we need to keep rates low. What that does is that incentivizes investment. Regulatory rebalancing is important. $350 billion a year in compliance costs for manufacturers—that equates to about $50,000 per employee per year in compliance costs. That’s a drain on investment and hiring as well.
“And then, of course, the cost of tariffs have to be factored into this. All of this is one big, huge plan … to encourage manufacturing investment and hiring, but it really does start with maintaining those competitive tax rates. And I would say as Congress grapples with this, they better be looking at permanency to send a signal to manufacturers who are going to build a plant that takes five years to build. They’re going to invest in that for 30 years. They need to know that the tax structure in this country is stable and isn’t going to change in four or 10 years from now.”
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The National Association of Manufacturers is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.94 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The NAM is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the NAM or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.