Transportation and Infrastructure

The debt ceiling bill finalized on Sunday—and set to go to a vote in the House this evening—includes meaningful permitting reform measures, according to E&E News (subscription).

What’s going on: The legislation would approve the Mountain Valley pipeline and enact changes to the National Environmental Policy Act.

• In addition, “a one-year deadline would be placed on the production of environmental impact assessments for new energy projects seeking permits. A two-year maximum would be applied for environmental impact statements.”
• “The agreement would also expand an existing program to expedite federal permitting for infrastructure projects, known as Fast-41.”
• And last, though the bill will not include provisions for a large-scale transmission buildup, it will call for a study of grid challenges and recommendations that might fix them.

The NAM says: NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons commended policymakers on reaching an agreement:

• “Manufacturers have been a leading voice for permitting reform, so we are encouraged that this legislation takes critical steps to improve our broken permitting system, helping us more fully leverage our domestic energy sources and expand manufacturing in the United States.”
• “We will work with Congress and the administration to build on this progress and create a comprehensive bipartisan permitting reform package that also helps unlock the full potential of laws meant to encourage the growth of manufacturing in America, such as the historic infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act.”

The bigger bill: In case you missed it, the debt legislation as a whole would suspend the borrowing limit for the next two years, while also making some spending cuts, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription).

• “It would cut spending on domestic priorities favored by Democrats while boosting military spending by about 3%. It also would extend limits on food assistance to some beneficiaries to prod them to find jobs.”

NAM in the news: Timmons’ statements on the debt-limit agreement were picked up by CNN Business and The Hill.

Washington, D.C. – Following an announcement that the White House and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) had reached a deal to avoid default on U.S. debt, National Association of Manufacturers President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement:

“Manufacturers congratulate President Biden, Speaker McCarthy and their negotiating teams on reaching an agreement to lift the debt limit. As we have said from the beginning, defaulting on our debt would create economic chaos, harming manufacturing workers and their families and jeopardizing our leadership in the world. Congress should act quickly to pass this agreement and to demonstrate to Americans and to the world the continued strength of our institutions and our democracy.

“Manufacturers have been a leading voice for permitting reform, so we are encouraged that this legislation takes critical steps to improve our broken permitting system, helping us more fully leverage our domestic energy sources and expand manufacturing in the United States. We will work with Congress and the administration to build on this progress and create a comprehensive bipartisan permitting reform package that also helps unlock the full potential of laws meant to encourage the growth of manufacturing in America, such as the historic infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act.

“Once this debate is behind us, our leaders must turn their focus to other policies critical to unleashing manufacturing’s full potential: addressing the crushing regulatory burden facing manufacturers, improving our immigration system and ensuring that our tax code supports manufacturing in America by encouraging investments in innovation and capital equipment.”

-NAM-

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 $2.90 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 55% 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.

Implementation of programs and funding from 2021’s historic, bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is now in full swing—and manufacturers are already hard at work.

What’s going on: During discussions at an Infrastructure Week event hosted by United For Infrastructure earlier this month, leaders from Bechtel and Siemens USA discussed the significant social and economic impact of infrastructure investment.

• The Business Roundtable “commissioned a study to look at the economic impact [of] every taxpayer dollar invested in infrastructure, and we concluded that [each dollar] generates $4 in economic growth,” said Bechtel Chairman and CEO Brendan Bechtel, who is also chair of the BRT Infrastructure Committee. “We concluded that a trillion dollars in infrastructure investment over 10 years unlocks, on average, additional household disposable income of $1,800 a year for every family in the United States. Modern infrastructure creates a huge amount of social, environmental and economic benefits.” Bechtel spoke alongside Maryland Gov. Wes Moore and White House Senior Advisor and Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu on a panel.
• More benefits of the investment in infrastructure are on display in the many projects of industrial technology company Siemens USA, according to the company’s Vice President and Head of U.S. Government Affairs Brie Sachse.
• Sachse discussed the recent opening of Siemens’ second U.S. electric-vehicle charging manufacturing hub in Carrollton, Texas, as well as a partnership with utility ComEd in the historic Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago. There, Siemens is providing the management software for a first-of-its-kind, utility-owned microgrid cluster. “It will lead to cleaner, more reliable power for a neighborhood in the midst of revitalization,” Sachse said during a lightning round at the event. “We’re enthusiastic about the momentum to electrify America.”

 Permitting reform and workforce: Both Bechtel and Sachse stressed the critical importance of filling current and future open manufacturing jobs. Bechtel echoed NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons—who spoke on an earlier panel—when he stressed the need for infrastructure-project permitting reform at the congressional level.

• “The shortage of construction workers is real. It’s the current constraint throttling how much work we feel we can responsibly commit to and deliver at once,” Bechtel said. “I think it’s the single most important thing that we can all address besides permitting reform.”
• After the event, Bechtel thanked industry allies and business leaders “for continuing to lead on improving the permitting system so we can move projects through the pipeline more efficiently.” 

The power of apprenticeships: The companies are betting on apprentice programs to help fill jobs.

• Siemens recently launched an apprentice program in Wendell, North Carolina, to “support the growing EV market,” Sachse said, adding that apprenticeships like this one are “opening the door for career pathways that are both well-paying and meaningful.”
• To fill the worker shortage, “we’re doubling down on the things we know that work,” Bechtel said. For example, the company uses apprentice readiness programs, in which people are “learning while they’re earning [and] they’re accessing and accumulating health and retirement benefits that they wouldn’t otherwise.”

In its Sackett v. EPA ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court handed a victory to congressional Republicans and others who believe the Biden administration’s revised Waters of the United States rule is overly broad, according to E&E News’ Greenwire (subscription).

What’s going on: By unanimous vote, “the court found that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers wrongfully claimed oversight of the wetland on the Sacketts’ property—located about 300 feet from Idaho’s Priest Lake—and that federal courts had erred in affirming the agencies’ jurisdiction.”

• “The ruling could complicate the Biden administration’s legal defense of its new definition of which wetlands and streams qualify as ‘waters of the U.S.,’ or WOTUS, subject to Clean Water Act permitting.”
• The Sacketts have been prohibited from building on their property for more than 15 years because of the wetlands designation and oversight claims.

Why it’s important: The decision—in which “[t]he court said the EPA can only assert jurisdiction over wetlands that have continuous surface connection to navigable waters, rejecting a more expansive view proposed by the EPA,” according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription)—will give much-needed regulatory certainty to manufacturers, which have been caught in limbo over the unclear and changing WOTUS definition.

The NAM says: The court’s ruling “put[s] us on a path to regulatory certainty for manufacturers across the country,” NAM Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Brandon Farris said.

• “This case demonstrates yet again why manufacturers and our economy need a sensible Waters of the United States proposal that provides clarity and certainty and allows the industry to continue leading the way on environmental protection. The EPA should heed the court’s ruling and revise its latest WOTUS proposal.”

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao Thursday evening to talk “trade, investment and export policies” in the first Cabinet-level discussion between the two nations in months, Reuters reports.

What happened: The officials “had candid and substantive discussions on issues relating to the U.S.–China commercial relationship, including the overall environment in both countries for trade and investment and areas for potential cooperation,” the Commerce Department announced in a readout of the sit-down.

• “Secretary Raimondo also raised concerns about the recent spate of [People’s Republic of China] actions taken against U.S. companies operating in the PRC,” including an uptick in investigations against these companies’ China operations.
• Wang—who is also confirmed to meet today with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai—voiced concerns over some of the Biden administration’s China policies, “including on semiconductors, export controls and reviews of foreign investments, a Chinese Commerce Ministry statement said,” according to Reuters.
• Both meetings are taking place on the sidelines of U.S.-hosted meetings at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation organization happening this week in Detroit.

What they agreed: Raimondo and Wang said they would begin and maintain open communication, which China’s Commerce Ministry said would let the two countries discuss specific trade and cooperation matters.

Additional background: Earlier this week, Wang met with U.S. firms, with whom he stressed “the importance of the China market for American companies,” reports the South China Morning Post (subscription).

Why it’s important: Thursday’s Raimondo–Wang exchange comes after President Biden and other G7 leaders “said they would ‘de-risk’ without ‘decoupling’ from the world’s second-largest economy in everything from chips to minerals,” according to Reuters.

It’s been more than two years since the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill expired—and the lack of renewal is harming manufacturers in the U.S.

What’s going on: Manufacturers have been operating without an MTB—legislation that temporarily eliminates or reduces tariffs on products not available in the U.S.—since January 2021, when MTB legislation that had been passed in 2018 expired.

• The MTB is typically renewed every few years. In June 2021, the Senate passed an MTB measure as part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, and the House passed a different version in the America COMPETES Act, but Congress did not agree to trade provisions in the final China competition legislation.
• No MTB legislation has been introduced during this Congress in either chamber.

Why it’s important: The result of this inaction has been a direct economic hit to manufacturers, particularly small and medium-sized manufacturers that are paying more for product inputs.

• Since the MTB expired in December 2020, manufacturers and other businesses have paid more than $1 billion—or $1.3 million per day—in anticompetitive tariffs for goods they cannot source in the U.S., according to an NAM analysis.
• The added costs can create higher prices for consumers, making it harder for American families to buy goods from manufacturers in the U.S.
• Due in part to these tariffs, some manufacturers are having difficulty maintaining current staffing levels and expanding opportunities for existing workers.

Hurting the heartland—and Ukraine: Sukup Manufacturing Co., headquartered in Sheffield, Iowa, is a family-owned and -operated manufacturer of grain-storage and grain-handling products. It is paying tens of thousands of dollars in tariffs to import components from the Kyiv province of Ukraine.

• In 2022, the company paid nearly $40,000 in tariffs on imports from Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s export market is essential to its economic development as well as its ability to withstand Russia’s invasion. The lack of an MTB is creating barriers between companies in the U.S. and their Ukrainian partners at exactly the wrong time.

Hurting a local economy: For Element Electronics, the last remaining U.S. producer of LCD TVs, the absence of an MTB has created a highly uneven playing field—which has led to layoffs of employees at the Winnsboro, South Carolina, facility.

• Mexican producers of LCD TVs buy the same LCD panels as Element but are allowed to import them duty-free. They are then able to export the finished TVs to the U.S. duty-free, too, putting Element at an unfair disadvantage.
• Restoring the MTB would allow the company to compete fairly and return to full production and employment.

Creating jobs overseas instead of in the U.S.: Glen Raven, a 143-year-old global fabric manufacturer based in Burlington, North Carolina, uses the MTB for duty-free access to raw materials that haven’t been made in the U.S. in decades. When the previous MTB expired, the company was compelled to invest in operations outside of the U.S.

• During the pandemic, the business created more than 200 jobs, but because of the tariffs, it could not afford to locate the positions in the U.S. and instead expanded operations in Europe and elsewhere.
• “While we are committed to job creation and investment in the U.S., if we are unable to be competitive in this environment, we have a responsibility to invest where we have the greatest opportunity to achieve our growth objectives,” said Glen Raven President and CEO Leib Oehmig.

Losing customers: The family-owned Nation Ford Chemical, another South Carolina manufacturer, makes products used every day by the U.S. military. The absence of an MTB has cost the small company customers and is jeopardizing some of its 80 jobs.

• In 2022, to make just one of its products—a jet-engine lubricant additive called PANA—the Fort Mill–based company spent almost $500,000 on duties alone.
• Tariffs have cost NFC so dearly that it may soon be forced to close the smoke-dye component of its business. If it does, the company would have to lay off up to 10 workers, and the U.S. military would have to source the product from foreign markets.

Costing taxpayers: ICF Mercantile, a manufacturer based in New Jersey, purchases raw materials that are not available in the U.S. for products it sells to NASA and the Defense Department.

• The company is forced to pass the cost of the 10% tariff on to its government customers, which ultimately increases costs for American taxpayers.

What we’re doing: The NAM continues to lead the business community in urging Congress to pass the MTB.

• “If Congress is serious about supporting manufacturers and workers in the United States, they must prioritize the passage of the MTB as soon as possible this year,” said NAM Director of Trade Facilitation Policy Ali Aafedt.

It’s been more than two years since the Miscellaneous Tariff Bill expired—and the lack of renewal is harming manufacturers in the U.S.

What’s going on: Manufacturers have been operating without an MTB—legislation that temporarily eliminates or reduces tariffs on products not available in the U.S.—since January 2021, when MTB legislation that had been passed in 2018 expired.

• The MTB is renewed typically every few years. In June 2021, the Senate passed an MTB measure as part of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act, and the House passed a different version in the America COMPETES Act,  but Congress did not agree to trade provisions in the final China competition legislation.
• No MTB legislation has been introduced during this Congress in either chamber.

Why it’s important: The result of this inaction has been a direct economic hit to manufacturers, particularly small and medium-sized manufacturers that are paying more for product inputs.

• Since the MTB expired in December 2020, manufacturers and other businesses have paid more than $1 billion—or $1.3 million per day—in anticompetitive tariffs for goods they cannot source in the U.S., according to an NAM analysis
• The added costs can create higher prices for consumers, making it harder for American families to buy goods from manufacturers in the U.S.
• Due in part to these tariffs, some manufacturers are having difficulty maintaining current staffing levels and expanding opportunities for existing workers.

Hurting the heartland—and Ukraine: Sukup Manufacturing Co., headquartered in Sheffield, Iowa, is a family-owned and -operated manufacturer of grain-storage and grain-handling products. It is paying tens of thousands of dollars in tariffs to import components from the Kyiv province of Ukraine.

• In 2022, the company paid nearly $40,000 in tariffs on imports from Ukraine.
• Ukraine’s export market is essential to its economic development as well as its ability to withstand Russia’s invasion. The lack of an MTB is creating barriers between companies in the U.S. and their Ukrainian partners at exactly the wrong time.

Read the full story here.

A power line and wind farm project first conceived in 2006 finally received a critical permit this month—a perfect example of why we need permitting reform, according to The Wall Street Journal (subscription).

What’s going on: “The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management gave the green light [last] Thursday for a high-voltage power line [in the SunZia project]. The permit allows the developer, Pattern Energy, to build the country’s largest wind energy project across three counties in rural New Mexico and deliver that electricity to large markets in Arizona and California.”

• Developers applied for federal approval in 2008, and the Obama administration “fast-tracked” the project four years later.
• Pattern Energy plans to start construction later this year.

Why it’s important: SunZia is emblematic of a flawed system, one which President Biden and legislators are now trying to fix, according to the Journal.

• “The labyrinthine state, local and federal permitting processes are often drawn out for years, require duplicative paperwork and generate thousands of pages of government analysis. The average federal environmental review, for example, takes 4½ years, according to a 2020 White House report.”
• Earlier this month, the White House recommended changes it said would help speed the approval of transmission projects.

What they’re saying: “‘The White House doesn’t have a prayer of implementing the infrastructure bill or the [Inflation Reduction Act] without permitting reform,’ said Rep. Garret Graves (R., La.), a lead Republican negotiator in the debt-ceiling talks. ‘And anyone who’s actually out there trying to build things will tell you that.’”

What we’re doing: The NAM has been one of the foremost voices urging permitting reform on Capitol Hill.

• NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons recently testified before Congress on the topic and outlined manufacturing priorities for overhauling the permitting process.
• At another recent congressional hearing, NAM Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Brandon Farris told legislators, “Streamlining and modernizing our nation’s permitting laws and procedures will help us advance many of our nation’s shared priorities, improving the quality of life for all communities; modernizing our infrastructure; achieving energy security; ramping up critical mineral production; enhancing manufacturing competitiveness; and creating manufacturing jobs in the U.S.”

The NAM is a meeting place like no other, where manufacturers of all sizes and sectors gather to make the industry stronger. Recently, along with its partner CONNEX Marketplace, it invited manufacturing leaders to D.C. for high-level discussions about supply chain challenges.

The big picture: This meeting came at an exciting time for CONNEX. Formerly known as Manufacturers Marketplace, the program pivoted in 2022 to combine state-specific installations with the national platform and become a more powerful SaaS.

• Connecticut launched its own version of the CONNEX platform back in February, thanks to the support of the CBIA (a state business association and NAM partner) and the state’s chief manufacturing officer, Paul Lavoie—who discussed some early success stories at the D.C. event.
• “In the first two weeks, more than 200 companies joined, significantly more than the state’s most optimistic projections,” according to a Hartford Business Journal piece—and Lavoie told the paper he expects signups to blow past 750 in the first year.
• Meanwhile, Kentucky is also getting in on the action. The Kentucky Association of Manufacturers (also an NAM state partner) recently launched its own CONNEX Marketplace installation, which was announced by the governor. KAM CEO Frank Jemley also came to D.C. for the meeting, bringing his own success stories.

Talking the talk: The leaders in D.C. focused on how manufacturers can improve security and resiliency in the supply chain. They also discussed how local and state governments can ease supply chain challenges for businesses.

Security: As the participants observed, the key challenge is “illuminating risk” inside the supply chain, so that companies know what they’re facing.

• They discussed the many types of risks involved in supply chains, including cybersecurity, financial, business continuity, capacity and more.
• What’s next: CONNEX is working to integrate technology that will identify and highlight potential risks in a company’s specific supply chain.

Cooperation: The supply chain functions (or doesn’t) on the strength of manufacturers’ cooperation, from the largest companies to their smallest suppliers.

• Furthermore, competition is not company vs. company, but supply chain vs. supply chain, the participants agreed.
• Small manufacturers might benefit from a coach or guide to walk through the sourcing process so they understand how to remain resilient and competitive, one attendee recommended.
• What’s next: CONNEX is working on a playbook that entities such as manufacturing extension partnerships can use to help coach SMMs through the procurement process.

Progress: Executives from CONNEX reported more than 4,000 suppliers were connected to buyers in 2022, while the platform hosted 396 separate “postings” from manufacturers looking for specific parts or supplies.

The NAM will host another forum this fall where manufacturers will tackle supply chain issues. Contact NAM Senior Director of Member Business Services Anna Chongpinitchai for details. 

The NAM is a meeting place like no other, where manufacturers of all sizes and sectors gather to make the industry stronger. Recently, along with its partner CONNEX Marketplace, it invited manufacturing leaders to D.C. for high-level discussions about supply chain challenges.

The big picture: This meeting came at an exciting time for CONNEX. Formerly known as Manufacturers Marketplace, the program pivoted in 2022 to combine state-specific installations with the national platform and become a more powerful SaaS.

• Connecticut launched its own version of the CONNEX platform back in February, thanks to the support of the CBIA (a state business association and NAM partner) and the state’s chief manufacturing officer, Paul Lavoie—who discussed some early success stories at the D.C. event.
• “In the first two weeks, more than 200 companies joined, significantly more than the state’s most optimistic projections,” according to a Hartford Business Journal piece—and Lavoie told the paper he expects signups to blow past 750 in the first year.
• Meanwhile, Kentucky is also getting in on the action. The Kentucky Association of Manufacturers (also an NAM state partner) recently launched its own CONNEX Marketplace installation, which was announced by the governor. KAM CEO Frank Jemley also came to D.C. for the meeting, bringing his own success stories.

Talking the talk: The leaders in D.C. focused on how manufacturers can improve security and resiliency in the supply chain. They also discussed how local and state governments can ease supply chain challenges for businesses.

Security: As the participants observed, the key challenge is “illuminating risk” inside the supply chain, so that companies know what they’re facing.

• They discussed the many types of risks involved in supply chains, including cybersecurity, financial, business continuity, capacity and more.
• What’s next: CONNEX is working to integrate technology that will identify and highlight potential risks in a company’s specific supply chain.

Cooperation: The supply chain functions (or doesn’t) on the strength of manufacturers’ cooperation, from the largest companies to their smallest suppliers.

• Furthermore, competition is not company vs. company, but supply chain vs. supply chain, the participants agreed.
• Small manufacturers might benefit from a coach or guide to walk through the sourcing process so they understand how to remain resilient and competitive, one attendee recommended.
• What’s next: CONNEX is working on a playbook that entities such as manufacturing extension partnerships can use to help coach SMMs through the procurement process.

Progress: Executives from CONNEX reported more than 4,000 suppliers were connected to buyers in 2022, while the platform hosted 396 separate “postings” from manufacturers looking for specific parts or supplies.

The NAM will host another forum this fall where manufacturers will tackle supply chain issues. Contact NAM Senior Director of Member Business Services Anna Chongpinitchai for details.