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Watch Jay Timmons on “Worldwide Exchange”

Timmons on Upcoming Tariff Announcement   

“We don’t know what the actual proposal is going to be, or the actual plan is going to be from the president today, but in any scenario, it’s going to add cost to manufacturers, especially for those inputs that are coming into the United States for finished goods and already finished products. So manufacturers are bracing. We’ve got 14,000 members right now who, frankly, don’t know what the future holds in terms of additional costs, and that’s why you’re seeing this type of concern and sentiment among manufacturers. In fact, three-quarters of manufacturers who we surveyed rate trade uncertainty as their number one concern right now.”

Timmons on Tax Reform, Lowering Costs for Manufacturers

“I think it’s pretty safe to say that everybody would like more things made here in this country, because that’s good for the economy. That’s good for jobs. What is not good, though, is driving up the cost of actually making those things here in the United States. So the first thing that we need … is we need to see Congress, frankly, do its job and get the tax reforms from 2017 renewed, so that … we have the certainty in the tax code. Also the administration is working on reducing the regulatory burden. That’s a lot of costs. That’s about $50,000 per employee per year for a small manufacturer. And then, of course, energy inputs and the cost of energy is important, as well as workforce challenges. We have 500,000 open jobs, for instance, in manufacturing today. So you add all that up, if we could have those advancements and those things that will bring costs down, that’s good for investment here in the United States. Adding costs for inputs, like critical minerals, for instance, really does not help us in the long term.”

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“There was a lot of enthusiasm when the president came in and talked about strengthening manufacturing here in the United States, talked about an agenda that would lower costs. … If we don’t get the tax reforms renewed, that is an additional cost. If tariffs are imposed, that’s an additional cost. So that’s why you’re seeing consumer sentiment lower. You’re seeing the PMI index that … is now in contraction. That means that manufacturers are putting these decisions on hold. They’re waiting to see whether they should invest and hire, and that’s not good for the economy.”

-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 $2.93 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% 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.

Shop floor manufacturers and NAM staff met with members of Congress yesterday and continue these meetings today on Capitol Hill to hammer home the importance of making the 2017 tax reforms permanent and getting a comprehensive reconciliation bill done now. House and Senate Republicans are working on a strategy for a tax package as part of a reconciliation bill that includes extending the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

• In its Morning Tax newsletter, POLITICO (subscription) reported on this week’s fly-in, naming the NAM “a powerhouse business lobby” meeting with several members of Congress as the 2025 tax bill continues to “get more intense.”

Why this is a critical moment: When the 2017 tax cuts were signed into law, “it was rocket fuel for manufacturing in America and made the U.S. economy more competitive on a global scale,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons earlier this month.

• “That fuel is about to run out as key provisions have expired, and others are about to lapse. … We must ensure these historic, pro-growth manufacturing provisions are made permanent and even more competitive so manufacturers can plan, grow and succeed.”

“Exactly what the country needed”: Manufacturers traveled hundreds of miles from their shop floors to urge Congress to keep the rocket fuel for manufacturers and the American economy.

• “The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 was huge for us,” said Tom Onsrud, CEO of the 51-year-old industrial CNC machine maker C.R. Onsrud, Inc., in Troutman, North Carolina. “It was rocket fuel. As soon as it passed, our backlog exploded. We started employing more people. We went from about 100 people to 220 people. Our floor space was maxed out. … It was exactly what the country needed.”
• One of the provisions, the immediate research and development tax credit, allowed the family-owned business to “expense equipment [costs] quickly,” Onsrud added. “That was huge for us.” That provision, however, expired in 2022.

“Vital to our company”: Stephen Bullock, president of concrete paving equipment manufacturer Power Curbers in Salisbury, North Carolina, is in Washington this week to make sure Congress knows just how important the tax reform measures have been to his small company.

• “We rely on them,” Bullock said. “We spend a lot of time and resources and money in research and development. Without [the tax provisions], it would be impossible for our company to support manufacturing. We’ve got to stay ahead of the game with new machinery, new offerings for our customers. So … anything we can do to realize those tax advantages sooner rather than later helps us very much from a cash-flow standpoint.”
• The TCJA “allowed us to expand and hire additional staff so that we [could] fund new programs, new machinery.”

“Tripled our business”: Steve Macias, co-owner of machining company Pivot Manufacturing, traveled from even farther away—Phoenix, Arizona—to make sure Congress heard what he had to say.

• “The tax reforms of 2017 … allowed us to grow our company in a way that we hadn’t [been able to] previously,” Macias told the NAM. “We were a small machine shop that did prototype and R&D work, and we’d been in business for 17 years. The tax cuts kind of gave us the kick … to take a leap and buy some production equipment, which has allowed us to virtually triple our business over the last eight years.”
•  “Legislators need to understand the impact of tax reform,” Macias went on. “I’m a machine shop in Phoenix, Arizona, and there are hundreds of machine shops across the U.S., but there are also thousands upon tens of thousands of small manufacturing companies that made the same decisions we did based on those tax policies.”

President Trump’s recent executive order to accelerate permitting and access to domestic critical minerals will help manufacturing—and America—win, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said.

What’s going on: The recent executive order aims to boost U.S. production of critical minerals—which include lithium and cobalt—“as well as uranium, copper, potash, gold and any other element, compound or material as determined by the Chair of the National Energy Dominance Council,” according to the EO.

• China dominates the global market for critical minerals, which are vital in the manufacture of everyday goods from cell phones and computers to advanced energy and defense technologies.
• Increasing American production of these crucial substances “can create jobs, fuel prosperity and significantly reduce our reliance on foreign nations,” according to the EO. “Transportation, infrastructure, defense capabilities and the next generation of technology rely upon a secure, predictable and affordable supply of minerals.”

What’s in it: The EO—which cites “overbearing federal regulation” for the lack of American critical mineral production—enumerates “staggered timelines for agencies across government to prioritize financing for domestic mineral projects, including loans, capital and technical assistance, and calls on the Department of Defense to accelerate domestic mineral production” (POLITICO Pro’s GREENWIRE).

• It also calls on the DOD to work with the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation to offer financing for the projects.

Aligned on regulations: The NAM has long called for regulatory reform to combat the onslaught of rules coming from the federal government—and this EO is a much-needed reform, said Timmons.

• “For too long, red tape and burdensome regulations have stood in the way of the basic building blocks that power manufacturing in the United States, especially mining and processing the minerals manufacturers rely on to create jobs and dominate on the world stage,” Timmons said. “The administration is addressing those barriers, making it easier for manufacturers to access the resources we need to build the future in America.”

Manufacturing in the U.S. will experience a renaissance under President Trump, Vice President JD Vance said Friday in an NAM-attended speech at Vantage Plastics in Bay City, Michigan.

What’s going on: Vice President Vance—whose talk was part of the Small Business Administration’s recently announced multistate Made in America Manufacturing Initiative and Made in America Roadshow—told the crowd of employees at the plastics processing facility that America’s achievements are contingent on the achievements of its manufacturers.

• “I really do believe that America’s success depends on the success of companies like Vantage Plastics,” he said. “And I don’t mean that in some abstract, poetic-sounding sense; I mean it literally. If we do not protect our nation’s manufacturers, we lose a fundamental part of who we are as a people. Making things, building things, working with our hands is America’s heritage, and that heritage is alive and well in this facility.”
• Vantage Plastics President Paul Aultman agreed. “Imagine how much stronger this country would be if every manufacturer—large and small, in cities and towns across America—had the tools to build, expand and succeed,” Aultman said. “Manufacturing is the backbone of America, and on shop floors like ours, we’re not just making products—we’re making the future.”

Relief from the onslaught: The Trump administration intends to protect manufacturers and in doing so, touch off a gilded age for the industry—by unburdening it of the many regulations that have been heaped upon it, said Vice President Vance.

• “The Trump administration is working hard to slash regulations left and right. … We’ve got to make it easier to build stuff in our own country. We can’t have people telling our great builders that if they want to start a factory or if they want to expand a factory, they’re not allowed to,” he said, echoing longtime NAM advocacy, backed by manufacturer surveys and data. “And that is the biggest thing, I think, the Trump administration is working on when it comes to renewing American manufacturing.”
• SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, who spoke prior to Vice President Vance at the event, sounded a similar note, saying, “The golden era of manufacturing in America is not behind us; it’s in front of us” (Detroit Free Press).

Energy unleashed: Vice President Vance discussed the administration’s NAM-supported move last week to review dozens of burdensome Environmental Protection Agency regulations.

• “These include the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program, which cost U.S. factories and power plants hundreds of millions of dollars,” the vice president continued. “And that money is now going to be reinvested in American workers. And we remember the Clean Power Plan 2.0, which has imperiled America’s grid by creating impossible restrictions on coal and natural gas plants that account for 60% of our power. You can’t tell people to build in America while at the same time destroying American energy.”

A new path forward: Under President Trump, American manufacturing will have room to thrive, the vice president went on.

• “We are done overregulating American businesses. We are going to be guided by a simple principle: Build in this country. We cut your taxes, we reduce your regulation and we reduce your energy costs. Build in this country. Make American manufacturing great again. And we are going to fight for you—and the president will, too.”
• “Our goal is to make it easier and more affordable to make things again in the United States of America,” he said. “If you invest in American jobs and workers and businesses, you will be rewarded. We will cut your taxes, we will slash regulations and reduce the cost of industry in this country we all love.”

The last word: “President Trump and Vice President Vance understand what manufacturing means to America—not just in economic terms, but also in human terms,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said.

• “But we can only reach our full potential with the type of leadership that will make the 2017 tax reforms that were rocket fuel for the manufacturing industry permanent, rebalance the regulatory framework, expedite permitting reform to unleash American energy, grow the manufacturing workforce and implement sensible trade policies. That’s how we make America strong, prosperous and proud. That’s how we will Make America Great for Manufacturing Again.”

At an NAM-sponsored breakfast at energy conference CERAWeek in Houston on Tuesday, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum assured NAM board members that the administration has a manufacturing strategy in place, particularly regarding permitting, infrastructure development and manufacturers’ access to reliable and affordable energy.

A comprehensive strategy: In his remarks opening the event, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons discussed the five-pillar, comprehensive manufacturing strategy that the NAM has been urging the Trump administration to implement.

• “Secretary Burgum, I just want you to know we’ve been making the case for a coordinated, comprehensive manufacturing strategy to give us the predictability and the certainty that manufacturers need to plan, to invest and to hire here in the United States, and that strategy has five pillars—goals that I know you share,” Timmons said.
• The goals are making the 2017 tax reforms even more competitive and permanent; securing regulatory certainty; expediting permitting reform to unleash American energy dominance; increasing the talent pool; and implementing a commonsense trade policy—to expand access to markets while keeping manufacturing competitive.
• Timmons warned of the dire consequences the U.S. economy and manufacturers will face if lawmakers fail to extend the 2017 tax reforms. Among them: the loss of some 6 million American jobs, according to a recent NAM–EY study.

An economic backbone: “Manufacturing, as you know, has been the backbone” of the economy, Burgum said. “President Trump ran on bringing manufacturing back to the United States. His policies are driving to do that.”

Unleashing U.S. energy: Timmons praised President Trump for his day-one lifting of the previous administration’s liquefied natural gas export permit moratorium.

• The “recent NAM LNG study found that the U.S. LNG export industry could support more than 900,000 jobs and add $216 billion to GDP by 2044,” he said.
• Said Burgum: “We are looking at everything to try to, for the first time, [have] streamlined government. … [and] it’s happening. It’s happening quickly.”

“Optimistic about the future”: The administration’s commitment to “low taxes and cutting red tape”—on which President Trump’s recently created National Energy Dominance Council is focusing—“are all things that are going to help lower your cost and create opportunities,” Burgum continued.

• “Capital is flowing to the U.S. at record levels. … I’m very optimistic about the future.”

The last word: At another event at CERAWeek, a roundtable sponsored by Natural Allies for a Clean Energy Future, Timmons summed up manufacturers’ commitments.

• “Yes, we care about developing our natural resources to power our economy, certainly through manufacturing, but it’s also about people, here in the United States and around the world,” said Timmons. “The energy that we export, that is soft power for the United States. That expands our influence. That allows us to export not only our energy, but also our values. So I think that’s very, very important for our future.”