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President Biden spent much of his second State of the Union address Tuesday night lauding the strong state of manufacturing in the U.S., according to Supply Chain Dive—but he left out key topics: the need for critical tax fixes and permitting reform.

What happened: Manufacturing “was one of the first topics addressed in the president’s annual speech. Biden boasted of several legislative feats in 2022—particularly on infrastructure and investments in cutting-edge production facilities—while pressing Congress to ‘finish the job’ and ensure the U.S. became a global manufacturing leader.”

• Biden asked, “Where is it written that America can’t lead the world in manufacturing again?” and said the U.S. is now “creating American manufacturing jobs.”  

Legislation: The president devoted significant time to highlighting production investments of recent years, giving the CHIPS and Science Act as an example of his campaign to boost manufacturing in the U.S.

What didn’t happen: While President Biden “should be commended for the historic, bipartisan accomplishments of the past two years,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said following the speech, he failed to give due credit to the tax reforms of 2017, which “helped lay the foundation for the recent success in creating jobs, increasing investment and raising wages.”

• “Instead of the Biden administration’s misguided suggestions for restrictions on pharmaceutical innovation and for destructive tax increases, Congress should immediately reinstate critical tax deductions for the costs of research, machinery purchases and key business investments,” Timmons said. “Restoring these tools is essential to keep up the pace of manufacturing job creation and to out-innovate and outcompete China.”
• President Biden also failed to discuss the need for permitting and regulation reform on key infrastructure and energy projects, Timmons said. “[T]o truly unleash manufacturing investment, fully realize the potential of the infrastructure law and achieve energy security in America, we need a smarter, balanced approach to regulations and significant permitting reform so that projects don’t languish for years in a bureaucratic mess just waiting for government approvals. After all, manufacturers are already making great strides in reducing emissions. Now is not the time to add top-down air regulations that will cost us jobs and snarl supply chains.”

NAM in the news: The Wall Street Journal covered the NAM’s reaction to the State of the Union address, in which President Biden also criticized energy producers.

• “On the political side, I was disappointed he took a shot at energy producers,” Timmons said.
• Fox Business also covered the NAM’s response to the State of the Union.