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The longer Congress waits to extend pro-growth, pro-manufacturing tax reforms, the more uncertainty and delayed investment manufacturers will face—and the less “rocket fuel” there will be in the tank, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said Tuesday at an “Invest in America” roundtable at the U.S. Capitol.  
 
What’s going on: The roundtable was organized by House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-MN) and attended by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, as well as House Ways and Means Committee Chairman and longtime NAM ally Jason Smith (R-MO), nine key members of the House Ways and Means Committee and 14 manufacturers of all sizes. Its aim: to convey to lawmakers why the 2017 tax reforms must be made permanent and more competitive—and what’s at stake if they are not.

• Key priorities included in NAM members’ stories included full expensing, R&D, interest deductibility, the pass-through deduction, the estate tax and keeping the corporate tax rate and international tax system competitive.   
• Also present were Reps. Vern Buchanan (R-FL), Adrian Smith (R-NE), Mike Kelly (R-PA), Kevin Hern (R-OK), Randy Feenstra (R-IA), Beth Van Duyne (R-TX), Rudy Yakym (R-IN) and Max Miller (R-OH). 

The NAM says: “We are protecting 6 million American jobs because of the [Tax Cuts and Jobs Act]—jobs that would be lost if we don’t preserve these tax policies,” Timmons told attendees at the roundtable, citing recent NAM study findings. “There’s a $1.1 trillion hit to our economy if we fail to make these tax cuts permanent.” He added, “ It’s even more urgent because of the recent global economic events.”

• The NAM has long been urging the administration to extend those tax measures from the TCJA that are due to expire this year and to bring back and make permanent those that have expired already. 
• President Donald Trump described the TCJA as “rocket fuel” for the U.S. economy at the NAM’s board meeting in 2017.   

Staying in the fight: Policymakers and administration members at the roundtable said they understood the necessity of making these tax measures permanent—and promised to keep fighting for it.

• Bessent emphasized the importance of making the 2017 tax reforms permanent through the reconciliation bill, highlighting how yesterday’s “Invest in America” roundtable aligns perfectly with that goal. “The greatest certainty we can achieve is sending a bill to the president that ensures the permanency of these tax cuts,” Bessent said.
• The Trump administration is working toward a future in which economic growth is incentivized and manufacturing is America’s superpower—and that’s why Congress needs to extend the TCJA tax cuts, Emmer told those at the event.  
• “It was great to have [Secretary Bessent] on Capitol Hill today as we heard from [NAM] manufacturers from across the country about the positive impacts the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act had on their businesses,” he wrote in a social post after the gathering. “House Republicans will continue to advocate for the continuance of this tax code through reconciliation.”
• Smith, who told attendees the roundtable’s purpose was to determine what’s required to keep manufacturing strong in the U.S., said afterward that the House will “continue working to advance one big, beautiful bill to deliver President Trump’s tax priorities, including a return to manufacturing here in America.”  

Manufacturers speak: Click Bond CEO and NAM Small and Medium Manufacturers Group Chair Karl Hutter told those at the roundtable that for his family-owned adhesive-bonded fasteners business, the TCJA truly was like rocket fuel.

• “It empowered us to expand, double our output and increase our workforce by 30%,” he said. “We strengthened 401(k) matches, upskilled workers and grew our communities. Ending R&D expensing is a poison pill—we need it restored to remain competitive globally.”  
• Courtney Silver—NAM Executive Committee member and president and owner of North Carolina–based family-owned precision machining firm Ketchie—said the TCJA “transformed our business. We had our best years ever. We invested over $1 million in capital equipment, raised wages and launched apprenticeship programs.”
• But since the provisions began to expire, “I’ve held off on a critical machine purchase,” Silver said. “It changes the [return on investment] and feels too risky.”
• RCO Engineering and RCO Aerospace General Manager and NAM Board Member Jeff Simek agreed with the positive impact of the TCJA tax provisions. “We used [them] to pivot into aerospace,” he said. “Our second-gen[eration] seats came from millions in R&D, funded thanks to the tax reform. Today we’re 25% aerospace, and we’re ready to expand further—if these policies stay in place.”  

Multifront blitz: The NAM launched an ad campaign this week to tell lawmakers that “when manufacturing wins, America wins,” and on Tuesday morning, Timmons and Emmer went on Fox Business’ “ Mornings with Maria” to express the urgency of a tax package that makes the 2017 tax reforms permanent. 

• The TCJA “actually benefited every American who made $10,000 or more,” Emmer told show anchor Maria Bartiromo. “It is imperative that this get established as a permanent tax code here in the United States so that everyone can get that benefit. If we don’t, we’re going to look at a $4 [trillion] to $5 trillion tax increase. … At the end of the day, this is preventing the largest tax increase in the history of this country.”   
• Added Timmons: “When you’re talking about higher taxes on individuals … what you’re talking about is the 90% of members of the National Association of Manufacturers … small businesses [that] are family-owned. That is what will get hit the worst—small businesses—and we don’t want to see that happen.”  

The final word: The sooner the House passes President Trump’s budget blueprint, the sooner the U.S. will see manufacturing “soar,” Bessent said.

• Concluded Timmons: “Think of us as your army to get this done.”