Trade

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement on the Trump administration’s announcement of tariffs on an additional $200 billion in Chinese imports:

Over the last year, manufacturers have delivered for our communities and our people, raising wages, building new plants and creating new jobs thanks to game-changing tax and regulatory reform. But more U.S. tariffs and Chinese retaliation risk undoing that progress and moving our economy in the wrong direction.

With every day that passes without progress on a rules-based, bilateral trade agreement with China, the potential grows for manufacturers and manufacturing workers to get hurt. No one wins in a trade war, and manufacturing workers are hopeful the administration’s approach will quickly yield results. Now is the time for talks—not just tariffs—and manufacturers have laid out a blueprint to reset the U.S.-China commercial relationship that will result in ending China’s unfair and anti-competitive behavior.

In January of this year, Timmons and the NAM sent a letter to the President urging the administration to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with China. Given plans for additional negotiations, Timmons said that they need to start bearing fruit, because “the costs of a sustained trade war have the potential to be devastating for America’s manufacturers and workers.” In August, the NAM released a three-point framework outlining manufacturers’ priorities to be included in any trade agreement between the two countries.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement after the President signed the bipartisan Miscellaneous Tariff Bill (MTB) legislation, which was unanimously approved by the House and Senate:

With his signature, President Trump has freed manufacturers and other businesses from a pointless $1 million a day tax. Now that the MTB is law, manufacturers can better compete against companies in China, Europe and elsewhere. This bipartisan effort delivered a win for America’s manufacturing workers, and it empowers manufacturers to continue delivering for our people and our communities.

The NAM has been a leading advocate for the MTB since helping to create a new and objective process that produced this legislation last November. From meetings and media resources detailing the benefits of the MTB for manufacturers in communities across America to spearheading a letter from 150 business organizations urging the House to boost manufacturing by passing the MTB, the NAM has long worked to ensure a positive outcome of this process for our nation’s manufacturers. Click here for testimonials from manufacturers in America on the importance of the MTB.

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The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) President and CEO Dennis Darby released the following statement on NAFTA:

Manufacturers in the United States and Canada firmly support moving forward at full speed to seize the opportunity to forge a new trade deal with the United States, Canada and Mexico. There is an unprecedented volume of goods flowing between the three countries and significant integration of operations, which makes a trilateral agreement an imperative. Such an agreement secures the jobs of our manufacturing workers and strengthens the critical U.S.–Canada trading relationship. We must also stand together with our regional allies to ensure competitors like China do not reap the rewards of unfair anti-market trade practices. Because of our two countries’ nearly $700 billion trading relationship, our economies are inextricably linked, and our manufacturing workers depend on a strong deal that keeps us all growing and prospering for generations to come.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

-About Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters-

Since 1871, Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters has been helping manufacturers grow at home and thrive around the world. In 2016, CME released Industrie 2030 – a roadmap for doubling Canadian manufacturing activity by 2030. Our focus is to ensure the sector is dynamic, profitable, productive, innovative and growing. We aim to do this by strengthening the labour force, accelerating the adoption of advanced technology, supporting product commercialization, expanding marketplaces and, most importantly, ensuring a globally-competitive business environment. CME is a member-driven association that directly represents more than 2,500 leading companies who account for an estimated 82 percent of manufacturing output and 90 percent of Canada’s exports.

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons today continued manufacturers’ call to secure the best deal possible for manufacturing workers in America:

Today’s announcement is a step in the right direction. It is a positive signal that some form of NAFTA will survive. Manufacturers accept the administration’s position that the 25-year-old NAFTA agreement needs updates. Our hope—for the sake of our workers and a successful manufacturing industry here in America—is that the final agreement will include all three of the original signatories: the United States, Mexico and Canada. Because of the massive amount of movement of goods between the three countries and the integration of operations which make manufacturing in our country more competitive, it is imperative that a trilateral agreement be inked.

Regarding the negotiations with Mexico, we are pleased that, at the NAM’s urging, today’s framework seems to include content requirements that are more workable than previous suggestions, investment protections for some industries (we would prefer that it applies to all manufacturers), stronger intellectual property protections than negotiated in previous agreements and a modernized approach to how we operate in a digital age. It also does not include language incorporating the disruptive uncertainty of ending the agreement every five years (sunset provision) and instead establishes a rigorous review process.

Reaffirming our relationship with such a vital trading partner, neighbor and ally is crucial and sends a powerful message as America confronts China’s unfair trading practices.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Vice President for Labor, Legal and Regulatory Policy Patrick Hedren released the following statement on the White House memorandum issued Thursday instructing the administration to work to eliminate unfair rules that essentially subsidize shipments from China and other countries that operate in the global postal system:

Manufacturers have struggled in recent years with the rapid growth of counterfeit goods pouring in to the country through the U.S. postal system from countries like China. This problem is fueled by heavily subsidized shipping rates and it displaces American innovators from online marketplaces, said Hedren. The NAM has been working for months to address the terrible Universal Postal Union deal that results in these unfair rates, and to raise awareness of the growing threat from counterfeit goods—and even drugs—entering the country. Manufacturers are pleased to see that this issue has been elevated to the very highest levels in the Trump administration, and that the president himself has instructed key members of his Cabinet to take the initial tough steps to finally fix this broken system. Manufacturers look forward to working with the administration to finally end the subsidy China receives from the U.S. Postal Service and to create an environment with fair and nondiscriminatory shipping around the world.

In April, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons sent a letterto Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, who leads the President’s Task Force on the United States Postal System (USPS), stressing the importance of ending the subsidy China receives from the USPS.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Washington, D.C. – National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement on the Senate Banking Committee’s unanimous vote to advance the nomination of Kimberly Reed to be president of the Export-Import (Ex-Im) Bank of the United States.

Kimberly Reed is the qualified leader manufacturers need at the helm of the Ex-Im Bank, and the full Senate should confirm her without delay. In Kimberly Reed, President Trump has put forward a nominee who shares his belief in the mission of the Ex-Im Bank. Every senator who supports American manufacturing workers should support Kimberly Reed.

The Senate also needs to act on President Trump’s three nominees to the Ex-Im Board of Directors. Once Kimberly Reed is confirmed, she’ll need a quorum to implement reforms and get the Bank fully functioning again—empowering manufacturers of all sizes to compete in the global economy and win deals and jobs for American workers.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.

Washington, D.C.– With trade talks resuming between the United States and China today, National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement and negotiating objectives for an agreement:

With the president’s demonstrated commitment to engage China on its well-established trade abuses and cheating, there is no better time to get the right deal done to curb these practices. We agree with the administration that Beijing has long reaped the rewards of unfair trade practices at the expense of American workers, which is exactly why manufacturers have been calling for the negotiation of a fair, bilateral, enforceable, rules-based trade agreement to stop those practices at their foundation. The administration has put itself in a position to address the deep-seated challenges that exist in our trading relationship with China, and manufacturers are encouraged that the United States has succeeded in getting China back to the table for negotiations.

In January of this year Timmons and the NAM, in a letter to the president, urged the administration to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement with China. Now that talks are scheduled, Timmons urged that they need to start bearing fruit, because “the costs of a sustained trade war have the potential to be devastating for America’s manufacturers and workers.” Timmons pointed to a three-point framework released by the NAM ahead of this week’s talks that outline manufacturers’ priorities to be included in any trade agreement between the two countries:

• Ending Unfairness: End Chinese Anti-Competitive Activities and Market-Distorting Barriers
• Protecting U.S. Assets: Protect U.S. Intellectual Property, Products and Investments 
• Raising Standards: Raise and Modernize Regulations and Regulatory Practices to Ensure Transparency, Fairness and Accountability

Achieving these objectives will help to level the playing field for manufacturers in the United States, opening critical markets for exports that support good, high-paying manufacturing jobs here at home while eliminating Chinese practices that unfairly boost their companies at the expense of ours and distort global markets.

Click here to read the full negotiating objectives framework.

Timmons first raised the need for such an agreement in a January letter to President Donald Trump and he reiterated this call in a May op-ed on CNBC.com. The NAM has also testified before Congress this year on the need for the administration to negotiate a bilateral trade agreement rather than pursue an escalating cycle of tariffs and retaliation.

-NAM-

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) 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 more than 12 million men and women, contributes $2.25 trillion to the U.S. economy annually, has the largest economic impact of any major sector and accounts for more than three-quarters 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 Manufacturers or to follow us on Shopfloor, Twitter and Facebook, please visit www.nam.org.