News & Insights

In the eight months since President Trump took office, the NAM has worked closely with the administration on modernized regulations to address the regulatory burden that manufacturers are facing.

• With the industry shouldering $350 billion every year in regulatory costs, the NAM has called for dozens of regulatory reforms to support the industry’s growth.
• The administration has responded to the NAM’s advocacy, delivering manufacturing wins in the form of lifting the liquefied natural gas export ban, rescinding Securities and Exchange Commission guidance that had empowered activist investors, reconsidering the previous administration’s unworkable PM2.5 standard and more.

Now, the administration has released its Spring 2025 Unified Regulatory Agenda —which closely aligns with the NAM’s regulatory agenda and includes even more opportunities for collaboration between manufacturers and the administration.

What’s in it: The NAM has identified more than 120 opportunities for regulatory reform in the unified agenda, in policy areas ranging from labor, to energy, to finance and much more. While the NAM has been advocating for many of these changes since the beginning, the agenda also includes new chances for meaningful reform.

• The NAM is tracking all these potential victories for manufacturers, but three areas stand out as priorities, according to NAM Vice President of Domestic Policy Jake Kuhns.

Modernizing EPA rules: The EPA is finalizing reviews of several rules from the Biden administration that would have imposed substantial burdens on manufacturers: the PM2.5 NAAQS rule, the Power Plant Rule, the Good Neighbor Rule, multiple National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants on ethylene oxide, the Toxic Substances Control Act risk evaluation framework, the Risk Management Program and the definition of “Waters of the United States.”

• Manufacturers see these Biden-era rules as unworkable and harmful to investment. The NAM will continue providing the industry’s perspectives to policymakers as they reconsider these regulations, Kuhns said.

Unlocking resources: The administration is pushing to reconcile the Interior Department’s critical minerals list and the Energy Department’s critical materials list—a goal the NAM has long supported.

• This reform could unleash manufacturers’ access to the raw materials required for the energy transition and the AI age, Kuhns noted.

Implementing tax reform: In the wake of manufacturers’ tremendous tax victory with the passage of H.R. 1, which made permanent many pro-growth tax provisions, the NAM is working closely with the administration to ensure the implementation of the law is as effective as possible for manufacturers.

• The NAM is helping to shape expedient, practical guidance that will maximize the benefits and minimize compliance burdens for manufacturers, Kuhns added.
• The tax law created a new deduction for manufacturing production facilities—a key implementation priority for the NAM.

The NAM says: “The breadth of the agenda—and its alignment with manufacturers’ policy priorities—creates real potential for transformative regulatory reform, and it’s clear the administration is hearing us,” said Kuhns. “The NAM will continue engaging agencies, convening member input and holding Washington accountable for practical, pro-growth outcomes.”