Policy and Legal

During United for Infrastructure’s Infrastructure Week, the NAM—an active member of the steering committee—participated in several events in Washington, D.C., highlighting the urgent need for permitting reform to accelerate U.S. building projects.

A reception: The NAM hosted a reception to kick off Infrastructure Week 2025 at its headquarters in partnership with United for Infrastructure, with special guest Sen. Shelley Moore Capito (R-WV), chair of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

• Nucor, Fluor Corporation and CRH sponsored the event.

A panel: NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen spoke at the United for Infrastructure signature event, underlining the need for commonsense trade and permitting policies.

• “I think we can work with governments to address supply chain challenges,” he said when asked about tariffs. “We have a really important window of opportunity over the next 50 odd days to get some deals that provide zero tariffs on industrial trade. That is what manufacturers support.”
• “Manufacturers rely on transportation networks … to get our goods to and from ports to customers,” Phalen said regarding infrastructure, “but we also are making everything that goes into making transportation work, from aluminum to steel, from asphalt to aggregates, copper, circuitry and the large industrial machinery that builds [and] maintains roads, bridges, factories [and] power plants. So, it’s kind of a virtuous cycle where we’re investing in infrastructure.”

“Comprehensive manufacturing strategy”: Phalen also gave a brief overview of the NAM’s “comprehensive manufacturing strategy.”

• Revising the regulatory framework is a key priority, he said. “We’ve submitted dozens of letters to 10 separate federal agencies as part of President Trump’s deregulatory agenda. Manufacturers every year are spending $350 billion just to comply with federal regulations. And so we’ve been really pleased to see the start of this regulatory rebalancing from the administration.”
• Phalen cited moves including “reopening LNG export facility applications, rebalancing Clean Air Act rules … and streamlining and improving the process to improve new chemicals … at the EPA.”
• “Probably most important is permitting reform,” he added. “Manufacturers operate and employ and invest in the communities where we’re producing, so we don’t want to see any short-circuiting of public input. … [T]here does have to be recognition, though, that the way that things were set up in the late ’60s and early ’70s is hindering infrastructure of all kinds right now.”

A roundtable: The NAM also participated in a roundtable on continuing federal support for water infrastructure investments. NAM Director of Transportation, Infrastructure and Labor Policy Max Hyman shared perspectives on how these investments benefit manufacturers by driving demand for their products and providing an essential service for operations.

The last word: As NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said during the reception, “Infrastructure is the foundation of manufacturing in the U.S.”