Policy and Legal

In his first few hours in office, President Trump outlined the broad contours of his “America First Trade Policy.” Among the primary objectives: to “reduce dependence on foreign nations for critical supply chains,” “promote investment and productivity” and “enhance our [n]ation’s industrial and technological advantages.”

Key takeaways: The president did not announce new tariffs. His executive order instructs key agencies to begin looking at underlying concerns about unfair or unbalanced trade, specific concerns regarding trade with China and matters related to economic security. The findings could form the basis for the administration’s choice of remedy, potentially leading to more tariffs and other policy measures.

• President Trump “is wasting no time in taking action to strengthen America’s hand on trade, and manufacturers appreciate his focus on combatting unfair practices that hurt American workers,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons wrote on Tuesday. 

What comes next:  Three comprehensive reports are due by agencies to the President by April 1. Issues to be investigated include:

• Persistent trade deficits;
• Unfair trade practices;
• Currency manipulation;
• Importation of counterfeit products and contraband;
• China’s compliance with the “Phase One” deal; and
• Review of the U.S. export control system.

Tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China: The EO tasks the Commerce Department with assessing unlawful migration and fentanyl flows from Canada, Mexico and China. The findings are also due April 1.

• Prior to that date, President Trump could issue a separate EO using international emergency powers. This would enable him to impose tariffs sooner.

Building on past success: The president cited the China Phase One deal, the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement and Section 232 tariffs as successful elements of his first-term agenda.

Expect USMCA review to kick into gear: The EO also instructs the United States Trade Representative to begin its public consultation processes in preparation for the six-year review of the USMCA and to assess the impacts of U.S. participation in the agreement.

The NAM’s view: Speaking to CTV from the Canadian Embassy on Inauguration Day, NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said:

• “We are in a global economy, and we want to be able to produce as much as we can. We need the entire continent of North America to be able to do exactly that.”
• “The United States, Canada and Mexico—because of the USMCA that was negotiated and implemented a few years ago—has the opportunity to take on together some actions to thwart problematic, market-distorting practices that are coming out of other countries, specifically China.”

Related news: In another EO, the president pulled the U.S. out of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development global tax deal on the grounds that the agreement “allows extraterritorial jurisdiction over American income but also limits our nation’s ability to enact tax policies that serve the interests of American businesses and workers.”

President Trump has frequently emphasized his intention to remove burdensome regulations that weigh on manufacturers and other businesses. In his first day on the job, he took steps to set this rollback in motion. Here’s what manufacturers need to know.

Regulatory freeze: As most presidents do when they take office, President Trump imposed a freeze on new and in-process regulations.

• The freeze pauses any rules from the outgoing Biden administration that have been proposed but not finalized, finalized but not sent to the Federal Register or sent to the Federal Register but not published.
• The executive order also recommends that agencies delay the effective dates of any published-but-not-yet-effective Biden rules by at least 60 days, giving the administration time to decide whether to rescind or revise the rules.

Reinstating policies: President Trump also rescinded several of President Biden’s executive orders, reinstating policies that had been in place during Trump’s first term.

• Most prominently, President Trump undid President Biden’s rescission of his “one-in-two-out” policy, setting the stage for more reworked and repealed regulations than new rules in his second term.
• He also rescinded a Biden order that had reduced agencies’ obligations to seek public input on guidance documents, which agencies use to interpret regulations and give direction to regulated parties.

Establishing DOGE: President Trump also established the Department of Government Efficiency, which will “be dedicated to advancing the president’s 18-month DOGE agenda,” including modernizing technology and software, increasing efficiency and reducing the size of government.

• DOGE will play a role in implementing the president’s new hiring freeze: the new organization will have 90 days to work with the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Personnel Management on a plan to reduce the size of the federal government’s workforce while the hiring freeze is ongoing.

The NAM says: “The regulatory burden facing manufacturers is sapping growth, costing the U.S. economy more than $3 trillion annually, with manufacturers shouldering $350 billion in annual regulatory costs. Small manufacturers—the backbone of our supply chain—are especially hard hit, with costs exceeding $50,000 per employee per year, or about $1 million for a 20-person shop,” said NAM Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram.

• “The NAM has already provided the new administration with more than three dozen regulatory actions to ease the regulatory burden on our industry.”
• “The NAM looks forward to working with the Administration to right-size the regulatory burden, providing smart, tailored rules that ensure the United States remains the best place in the world to build and create, fueling economic growth and strengthening our global competitiveness.”

Among President Trump’s Day One executive orders were several manufacturing-crucial energy policies. We break them down here.
 
Domestic energy resources: The president focused on unlocking the vast wealth of energy resources in the United States with the “Unleashing American Energy” executive order, which:

• Orders a 30-day review by all federal departments and agencies of regulations and other barriers to the identification and development of domestic energy resources (particularly oil, coal, natural gas, biofuels, critical minerals, nuclear and hydropower);
• Directs the Department of Energy to resume liquefied natural gas export permits, ending the previous administration’s moratorium, and resumes review of LNG export applications;
• Rescinds the “NEPA Phase 2” rulemaking, the Council on Environmental Quality’s revisions to the National Environmental Policy Act;
• Directs the reconsideration of the legality of regulating greenhouse gas emissions under the Clean Air Act;
• Revokes an executive order by President Carter that gives the CEQ authority to issue binding regulations to other agencies;
• Terminates state emissions waivers that limit the sale of gas-powered vehicles and begins the process of unwinding a suite of vehicle tailpipe regulations from the previous administration;
• Directs all agencies to provide the opportunity for public comment and rigorous, peer-reviewed scientific analysis for regulations; and
• Disbands the Interagency Working Group on the Social Cost of Greenhouse Gases.  

A “National Energy Emergency”: The president’s declaration of a “national energy emergency”:

• Authorizes the heads of every federal agency and department to use emergency powers to facilitate domestic energy development and production;
• Requires the Environmental Protection Agency and DOE to consider issuing emergency fuel waivers to allow for year-round sale of E15 fuel with a blend of 15% ethanol;
• Requires a report from the Army Corps of Engineers and other agencies on potential and planned permitting provisions to speed up energy infrastructure permitting under various legislative measures; and
• Requires agencies to use emergency authority under the Endangered Species Act to expedite energy project permitting consultations.   

Alaskan energy: The president’s “ Unleashing Alaska’s Extraordinary Resource Potential” order provides for the opening of Alaskan lands to energy exploration and development and promotes Alaskan LNG production.
 
The Paris Agreement: “Putting America First in International Environmental Agreements” withdraws the U.S. from the Paris Agreement, a 2015 climate change accord.
 
Rescissions: “Initial Rescissions of Harmful Executive Orders and Actions” includes revisions of multiple executive orders put in place by the previous administration, including “Tackling the Climate Crisis at Home and Abroad,” “Establishment of the Climate Change Support Office,” “Climate-Related Financial Risk” and “Strengthening American Leadership in Clean Cars and Trucks.”  
 
Offshore wind: The “Temporary Withdrawal of All Areas on the Outer Continental Shelf from Offshore Wind Leasing and Review of the Federal Government’s Leasing and Permitting Practices for Wind Projects” blocks lease sales for offshore wind projects and pauses new approvals for leases, permits or loans for on- and offshore wind projects.   
 
Our view: “Expanding domestic energy production drives innovation, creates jobs and powers the growth that keeps America at the forefront of the global economy,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons wrote in a social post Monday.

• “Energy is the lifeblood of our industry, and we look forward to working with President Trump to build our manufacturing nation.”   

Preserving the pro-manufacturing policies of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will “ensure that manufacturing remains the driving force of the American economy,” small manufacturer Courtney Silver told Congress this week.
 
What’s going on: Silver—president and owner of third-generation, family-owned precision machining business Ketchie and immediate past chair of the NAM’s Small and Medium Manufacturers Group—testified Tuesday at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the necessity of preserving soon-to-expire tax reforms and reinstating provisions that have expired already.

• “Critical pro-growth provisions from tax reform have expired already, and more harmful changes are on the way at the end of this year,” she said. “This means that every member of this committee has the opportunity to take real action that supports manufacturing in America.”   

A critical moment: The stakes now are extremely high for manufacturing and the U.S. economy as a whole, she added, citing findings from an NAM study out this week showing that in the absence of congressional action to preserve pro-manufacturing tax policies:

• Nearly 6 million U.S. jobs (and more than 1 million manufacturing jobs) are at risk;
• American workers will lose more than $540 billion in wages; and
• U.S. GDP would fall by more than $1 trillion.

A recipe for success: The passage of tax reform led to a period of record business for Ketchie, which allowed the company to expand and reward its team members.

• “Over 2018 and 2019, we were able to invest more than $1 million into capital equipment and create new jobs within Ketchie,” Silver said. “We upgraded our security and our HVAC systems and invested in new technology on our shop floor. And most importantly, we provided raises and bonuses to all of our employees.”
• “Business boomed throughout our supply chain, and demand for our parts soared. Our typically organized shop floor was covered in pallets of materials to keep up with our customers’ orders.”

… and for stagnation: But that growth was stopped in its tracks in 2022, when measures from the TCJA began to expire. And more expirations are on the way.

• “The loss of the pass-through deduction, increased individual taxes and changes to the estate tax will hurt my ability to grow and create jobs,” Silver said.   

Ripple effect: What’s more, manufacturers rely on each other—so when one takes a hit, all their supply chain partners take it, too, Silver said.

• She told the committee that the software vendor Ketchie uses was “dramatically affected” by the 2022 expiration of first-year research-and-development expensing. “They have less ability to create new jobs, to innovate the product that I use every day to run my business,” Silver told the committee. “There’s a ripple effect.”    

Complex work requires certainty: The manufacturing sector isn’t “me buying equipment, pressing a button and a widget comes out,” Silver continued. It is a complicated industry on which millions rely every day—and one whose players need consistent tax policies.

• “To take raw material and to transform it into a useful object that we all benefit from is extremely tough,” Silver went on.

The bottom line: “We need pro-growth tax policies that are permanent, that are consistent, that are predictable to help us be able to grow because our manufacturing supply chain in our country needs us,” Silver said.

A busy week: Silver also spoke at the NAM’s Tuesday Capitol Hill press conference announcing the release of the tax study.

More than just the manufacturing sector depends on the preservation of key provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. In fact, the health of the entire U.S. economy relies on it.
 
What’s going on: The NAM, members of congressional leadership, the chairs of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees and manufacturing leaders came together at a Capitol Hill press conference yesterday to announce the release of a new NAM study, which found that the American economy will face significant headwinds if Congress does not preserve pro-manufacturing tax policies. Specifically:

• Almost 6 million jobs will be put at risk;
• Approximately $540 billion in employee wages will be lost; and
• U.S. GDP will be reduced by $1.1 trillion.

A record of success: “We’re here today because we know what happens when policies empower manufacturers and their workers, and we know what happens when they don’t,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons, who was joined at the event by Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations & Risk Officer and NAM Board Chair Kathy Wengel, as well as leadership from Miles Fiberglass & Composites, Ketchie, Armstrong Industries, Smurfit Westrock, RCO Engineering and RCO Aerospace and Winton Machine Company. “When Congress passed and President Trump signed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act law in 2017, it really wasn’t a victory just for manufacturers; it was a victory for the entire country.”

• Timmons mentioned the record job, wage and investment growth that followed tax reform’s passage, as well as the economic security achieved by families across the country.  

Too much at stake: “Now, as we know, the progress we’ve made is at stake,” Timmons continued. “And that’s why today we’re launching a landmark new study by the NAM, together with EY, and rolling out a major ad campaign that quantifies what’s at stake for the American economy … if pro-manufacturing provisions … are allowed to expire.”  
 
People first: Courtney Silver, president and owner of North Carolina–based precision machining company Ketchie and immediate past chair of the NAM’s Small and Medium Manufacturers Group, knows firsthand the devastation that can be wrought on a family-owned business when pro-growth tax provisions start expiring.

• “When the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act delivered for us, we invested in equipment, we invested in technology and most importantly, we invested in our people,” she told those at the press conference, adding that because of the reforms, Ketchie was able to give its entire workforce pay raises and quarterly bonuses in the years following tax reform’s enactment.
• “When [pro-growth policies] started expiring, it impacted Ketchie in a big way,” Silver went on. “These losses made it harder for us to do the work that matters to us. I have an empty spot on my shop floor held for a significant investment that the expiration of full expensing has made too costly to purchase.”

“Congress cannot delay”: “Failing to extend the pro-manufacturing tax policies Congress and President Trump provided in 2017 will destroy America’s competitive edge,” House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) said. “This study underscores the need to extend the Trump tax cuts this year as quickly as possible. Congress cannot delay.”
 
Competitive edge: Tax reform gave the U.S. back its competitive edge, and to ensure we keep it, we need to reinstate expired provisions and prevent the expiration of measures due to end this year, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) said.

• Before tax reform, “we were getting our clocks cleaned by foreign countries because we had a 35% corporate [tax] rate, and the world average was 23%,” he said. “When you [asked], ‘How do we make America competitive again?’ everybody that works, everybody that creates jobs in America, said, ‘How about we get competitive in the tax code so we don’t lose jobs to foreign countries?’”
• Scalise added that congressional Republicans have a “very aggressive” timeline for restoring these tax provisions.

Strong economy, strong country: Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID), whose remarks closed out the press conference, said “piling taxes upon taxes upon taxes” is no way to build a resilient, successful economy.

• “The way to make us strong is to build a strong, powerful economy, which we get with sensible, pro-growth tax reforms,” he concluded.

Washington, D.C. – Failing to preserve pro-manufacturing tax policies from the 2017 tax reform will cost the U.S. economy nearly 6 million jobs, according to a landmark EY study released by the National Association of Manufacturers. Inaction would cost the U.S. economy more than $1 trillion. The study also shows that the manufacturing industry will bear the brunt of this economic damage if Congress does not act swiftly in 2025.

“The time to act is now. Millions of American workers are depending on the manufacturing sector to continue driving America forward,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “Pro-growth tax policies from President Trump’s 2017 tax reforms were rocket fuel for manufacturers and made the U.S. economy more competitive on a global scale. Manufacturers kept our promises to create jobs, raise wages and benefits and invest in our community. By acting now, policymakers can choose economic growth over economic disaster and protect American livelihoods.

“This data—6 million American jobs at stake—makes crystal clear that preserving tax reform should be one of the first acts of the new Congress and the new administration. If Congress delays, manufacturers will be forced to delay investment and job creation decisions due to the uncertain outlook. In 2017, Congress passed the landmark Tax Cuts and Jobs Act late in the year, meaning that manufacturers’ investment decisions based on the law could not bear fruit until 2018 at the earliest. For example, manufacturing capital spending grew 4.5% and 5.7% in 2018 and 2019, respectively, compared to the meager 1.4% growth in 2017. In addition, manufacturers added 267,000 new jobs in 2018, the best year for job creation in manufacturing in 21 years.

“This time around, we can’t afford to wait: with crucial TCJA provisions having expired in recent years, the economy is already backsliding. Following the expiration of immediate R&D expensing in 2022, R&D growth in the EU surpassed the U.S. for the first time in nearly a decade—and China’s R&D growth tripled our own. Congress and President Trump should work expeditiously to stimulate activity this year by acting urgently to give manufacturers the tax certainty they need to plan for long-term, job-creating projects.”

“As the backbone of the American economy, manufacturers—both large and small—drive innovation, create opportunity and strengthen communities across the country,” said Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President, Chief Technical Operations & Risk Officer and NAM Board Chair Kathy Wengel. “Maintaining competitive tax policy is essential to sustaining this momentum, enabling manufacturers to invest in cutting-edge technologies, expand operations and provide good-paying jobs. By preserving tax reform and its pro-growth policies that empower our industry, we can ensure a stronger, more resilient economy that benefits all Americans.”

“Failing to extend the Trump tax cuts could result in an estimated 6 million lost jobs and the devastation of America’s manufacturing sector,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA). “It is the responsibility of Congress to act quickly so we can protect Americans’ livelihoods, prevent wage decreases and avoid the largest tax hike in history. We all know the importance of making things here in America, so House Republicans are working hard to preserve and build on President Trump’s historic tax reform and support America’s manufacturers.”

“This study confirms the need to immediately extend the Trump Tax cuts this year by showing the real-world devastation to America’s small businesses and manufacturers if we fail to act,” said House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO). “With nearly 6 million jobs on the line, Congress must act swiftly to give American small businesses, families and communities across the country the green light to hire more workers and expand their businesses to restore the greatest economy in our lifetime as soon as possible. The last thing they need is the largest tax increase in American history. Ways and Means Republicans have prepared for this moment for nearly two years and are ready to deliver an economic package that Makes American Manufacturing great again.”

“Trump’s tax reform allowed Americans to keep more of their hard-earned money, and enabled businesses to invest in their ideas, products and people,” said Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID). “Making these tax cuts permanent is the best way to ensure the greatest economic growth, provide certainty and stability for American businesses, and avoid the economic losses described in this study.”

“President Trump’s 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act not only strengthened American manufacturing, but promoted job growth, drove innovation, increased hardworking Americans’ take home pay, and increased U.S. competitiveness. With President Trump returning to the White House and Republican majorities in the House and Senate, we must act quickly to ensure we maintain global competitiveness, support investment and innovation, and safeguard small businesses and workers,” said House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA). “Hardworking Americans deserve a strong economy that works for them, not against them. House Republicans stand ready to prevent the largest tax hike in history and make our economy great again.”

“Small manufacturers are disproportionately impacted by tax increases,” said Ketchie President and Owner Courtney Silver, outgoing chair of the NAM’s Small and Medium Manufacturers Group. “We’re already struggling thanks to the expiration of immediate R&D expensing, full expensing for capital equipment purchases and interest deductibility for job-creating projects. Congress should reverse these expirations and prevent even more devastating changes to the pass-through deduction, the estate tax and more from taking effect next year.” Silver recently testified before Congress to talk about the impact of tax reform to small manufacturers across the country.

Key Study Results:

Nationwide economic damage:

• 5.9 million lost jobs
• $540 billion reduction in employee compensation
• $1.1 trillion shortfall in U.S. GDP

Manufacturing impact:

• 1.137 million manufacturing jobs
• $126 billion in manufacturing worker compensation
• $284 billion manufacturing GDP reduction

To view the study, including state and district impacts, click here.

Background:

Manufacturers need Congress to prevent harmful tax increases, according to the NAM’s Q3 2024 Outlook Survey. Nearly 9 out of 10 respondents agree that Congress should act before the end of 2025 to prevent scheduled tax increases on manufacturers. The 20% pass-through deduction, individual tax rates and the estate tax exemption threshold are scheduled to expire or become less competitive at the end of 2025, as are important aspects of tax reform’s international tax system. These tax increases will build on damaging tax changes impacting R&D, capital investments and business loans that took effect in 2022 and 2023.

In 2018, the first year after tax reform’s enactment, manufacturing experienced the best year for job creation in 21 years and the best year for wage growth in 15 years; similarly, manufacturing capital spending grew 4.5% and 5.7% in 2018 and 2019, respectively. Manufacturers have used the savings from tax reform to grow their businesses, create jobs, raise wages, add new benefits for employees, fund R&D, purchase new equipment, expand their facilities and invest in their communities. When manufacturing grows, the economy grows. Correspondingly, when manufacturers experience devasting tax increases, the economy suffers.

-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 $2.91 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.

Allowing crucial pro-manufacturing tax provisions to expire will be devastating for the U.S. economy, according to a landmark EY study released today by the NAM.
 
What’s going on: “Pro-growth tax policies from President Trump’s 2017 tax reforms were rocket fuel for manufacturers and made the U.S. economy more competitive on a global scale,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said.

But in 2022, key provisions began to expire—and additional tax reform measures are scheduled to sunset at the end of this year. If Congress doesn’t preserve these pro-growth policies, the U.S. economy will face dire consequences:

• Nearly 6 million jobs will be put at risk.
• Approximately $540 billion in employee compensation will be lost.
• U.S. GDP will be reduced by $1.1 trillion.

Manufacturing impact: The manufacturing industry will bear the brunt of this economic damage, according to the study.

• More than 1.1 million manufacturing jobs and $126 billion in manufacturing worker wages are on the line if Congress does not preserve critical pro-manufacturing policies from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.  

The onus is on Congress: “It is the responsibility of Congress to act quickly so we can protect Americans’ livelihoods, prevent wage decreases and avoid the largest tax hike in history,” said House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA).
 
Critical players: The U.S. economy relies heavily on manufacturers, which in turn rely on competitive tax policy—and that makes these provisions’ renewal crucial, said Johnson & Johnson Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Operations & Risk Officer and NAM Board Chair Kathy Wengel.

• “[M]anufacturers—both large and small—drive innovation, create opportunity and strengthen communities across the country. … Maintaining competitive tax policy is essential to sustaining this momentum.”   

What we’re doing: The NAM continues its advocacy blitz following the study’s release.

• This morning, Courtney Silver, president and owner of North Carolina–based precision machining company Ketchie and immediate past chair of the NAM’s Small and Medium Manufacturers Group, is testifying at a House Ways and Means Committee hearing on the need to make pro-manufacturing TCJA reforms permanent.
• At 4:30 p.m. EST today, the NAM will hold a press conference on Capitol Hill announcing the study’s launch. Speakers will include Timmons, Speaker Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA), House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) and Senate Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo (R-ID). Watch live here.

The outgoing Biden administration is undermining a U.S. manufacturer in its high-stakes dispute with the Mexican government by “seeking to erode investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) protections under U.S. trade agreements with Colombia, Mexico and Canada,” a recent Wall Street Journal (subscription) editorial revealed.

The problem: ISDS protections safeguard U.S. investments from foreign governments seeking to interfere with or appropriate them, as the predicament of Vulcan Materials Company shows.

• Vulcan has been embroiled in a dispute with the Mexican government since 2018, when the government shut down some of its quarrying operations, according to Chairman and CEO J. Thomas Hill.
• The unwarranted shutdown forced the company to pursue arbitration under NAFTA, but the situation only got worse—former Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador ordered all of Vulcan’s operations to cease in May 2022, including at a deepwater port the company built in the early 1990s.
• Now, the company is expecting its second round of arbitration to be decided by mid-2025—unless the Biden administration guts the investor protections in the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement, handing a victory (and a key port) to the Mexican government.

Congressional fury: Both Congress and Vulcan itself learned of the administration’s efforts via The Wall Street Journal editorial, instead of directly from the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. This is particularly egregious because the USTR is required to consult with Congress on investment obligations in trade deals.

• Bipartisan members of Congress have expressed their outrage, with Sen. Katie Britt (R-AL) writing in The Wall Street Journal (subscription) that “the Biden administration is negotiating away the due process of Americans, including my constituents, in the waning days of this lame-duck administration.”
• On Dec. 20, three bipartisan senators joined Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-TN) in condemning the USTR’s efforts on the Senate floor. “If Mexico is allowed to target, without repercussion, a company like Vulcan, one that employs thousands of Americans, and has operated responsibly in Mexico for decades, that means no American business is safe in Mexico,” Sen. Hagerty said.
• Sens. Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Tommy Tuberville (R-AL) joined both Sens. Britt and Hagerty in calling on Congress to pass the Defending American Property Abroad Act, which would impose penalties on Western Hemisphere countries that unlawfully seize the assets of American firms.

The NAM says: The NAM is calling on the USTR to halt this effort immediately, said NAM Vice President of International Policy Andrea Durkin.

• “ISDS has a legitimate role in U.S. trade policy to ensure our manufacturers receive fair and equitable treatment by foreign governments and to protect against egregious expropriation or nationalization of U.S. investments without adequate and effective compensation.”
• “U.S. manufacturers are entitled—at a minimum—to be consulted about any proposed changes that would impact their right to due process in ongoing cases.”

The Biden administration’s ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in most American coastal waters “sets a bad precedent for the country,” the NAM said Monday.

What’s going on: The decision, which comes just two weeks before President Trump takes office, applies to “new drilling off the entire East Coast, as well as California, Oregon and Washington state” and “some drilling off Alaska’s coast in portions of the Northern Bering Sea and in the eastern Gulf of Mexico” (The Hill).

• Though there is currently no active drilling in the Atlantic and most U.S. offshore oil and gas production comes from the central and western Gulf of Mexico, the area placed under the ban is the largest ever “formally taken off the table for drilling by a president.”
• In response, President Trump on Monday said he would “unban it immediately” (Associated Press).

Why it’s a problem: The moratorium could prove harder for Trump to undo than other 11th-hour moves by Biden. That’s in large part because of the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act, which gives U.S. presidents the right to block drilling in certain areas but not the right to reinstate it.

• However, Congress could work with the new president to undo the move—and it should, Timmons said. “Manufacturers are committed to working with Congress and [President Trump] to scale back this harmful decision that undermines American energy dominance.”

Several last-minute regulatory actions by the outgoing Biden Treasury Department are “clear example[s] of regulatory overreach” that should be withdrawn immediately, the NAM told the Biden administration recently.

What’s going on: The Treasury Department has proposed new guidance and regulations that, if finalized, would change the IRS’s treatment of related-party transactions, particularly as they relate to partnerships.

• The proposed standards would impose significant reporting obligations on manufacturers while also drastically changing the tax treatment of these commonplace payments.
• Additionally, Treasury has proposed new rules governing “dual consolidated losses” that would make it more difficult for manufacturers operating in multiple jurisdictions around the world to utilize their tax losses appropriately.

Why it’s problematic: The proposed standards are outside Treasury’s statutory authority and are “unlikely to withstand inevitable judicial scrutiny,” the NAM told the agency at the end of 2024.

• In December, the NAM laid out the legal issues endemic to Treasury’s proposals, identifying both substantive and process-related issues that undermine each action.
• The submission builds on manufacturers’ comments to the agency on the proposals themselves: The NAM said in July that the related-party guidance was “wholly unauthorized, unsupported and unsupportable” and in August told the agency that the related-party rules “would impose an undue burden on taxpayers that outweighs any potential compliance benefit.”
• It added in October that the dual consolidated loss proposal was “internally inconsistent” and “fail[ed] to reflect reasoned decision-making.”

Regulatory onslaught: The NAM has been at the forefront of pushing back on the Biden administration’s regulatory onslaught, which costs manufacturers upward of $350 billion every year.

• Shortly after the 2024 presidential election, the NAM led a group of more than 100 manufacturing associations in urging the incoming Trump administration to “address burdensome regulations that are stifling investment, making us less competitive in the world, limiting innovation and threatening the very jobs we are all working to create right here in America.”

What’s next: The NAM is calling on the Biden Treasury Department not to finalize these proposals in the administration’s final days, but rather to pause or withdraw the rules in question until the Trump administration takes office.
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