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NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons wrapped up a high-profile day in New York City yesterday, appearing on four national news networks to preview his 2026 NAM State of Manufacturing Address, which he delivered today at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio.

On Fox Business’s Mornings With Maria: Timmons talked with Maria Bartiromo about the administration’s policies that support manufacturing, then moved on to the promise of AI for manufacturing and the American economy at large.

• “I want to rewind the clock just a little bit to 2017 because President Trump announced his tax plan at the NAM Board of Directors meeting, and he said at that time that if we got tax reform done, that would be rocket fuel for the economy,” he said. “It absolutely was. We had record investment, job creation, wage growth. Folks were waiting to see what happened this year or last year rather, to see if the tax bill got renewed. It did. And I think that that unleashed a lot of pent-up optimism.”
• Pointing out that AI is “additive,” Timmons said, “Years ago, folks were really worried that radios and the phonograph were going to completely disrupt the music industry. Obviously, that hasn’t happened, and you’ve seen this narrative throughout history, [that] technology is going to disrupt jobs. It’s not true.”

On Bloomberg Radio: Timmons also touched on trade policy in these interviews. On Bloomberg Radio, he said, “Well, look, [if] you ask a manufacturer, an optimal tariff level is zero for zero.  Because we don’t want to add cost to doing business here in the United States. I think it’s really important when we’re looking at USMCA to know that we have a solid trade agreement here in the North American continent that can incentivize more manufacturing here and disincentivize investment in China and Southeast Asia.”

• Turning to the issue of workforce, he said, “We do not have enough in the labor force. Our Manufacturing Institute , which is led by Carolyn Lee, will tell you that every single month for the last decade or more, we’ve had somewhere between 300,000 and 500,000 open jobs in the sector. And part of that is having parents understand what great opportunities are available in manufacturing and helping their kids understand that they can have a path to success there.”

On CBS Mornings 24/7: Timmons continued to discuss tax reform, manufacturers’ trade priorities and workforce challenges on CBS Mornings.

• “We pay more than any other sector of the economy on average,” he said, regarding the manufacturing workforce. “And I think that’s why people like to actually go into manufacturing. That’s what my grandfather did. He went from the farm and decided he wanted to be part of manufacturing… And that allowed our family to become part of the middle class.”

On Yahoo Finance’s Market Domination: Timmons rounded out the day with an appearance on Yahoo Finance, where he again addressed manufacturers’ need for trade policy that supports U.S. competitiveness in global commerce.

• “Ninety-five percent of the world’s customers are outside of the United States, so sure we can satisfy the domestic market, but we’d sure like to sell things around the world as well,” he said. “I think that gets lost in a lot of political rhetoric when we’re beating up on other countries. I think folks lose sight of the fact what commerce means worldwide.”
• While mentioning manufacturers’ uncertainty about trade, Timmons also stressed the positives, saying “Over the course of the last year, there’s been this pent-up optimism … that folks really, they want to invest, they want to hire, they want to raise wages here in the United States.”

NAM in the news: The NAM State of Manufacturing Address was previewed in POLITICO Pro’s Morning Tax and Morning Trade newsletters (subscription).

• Timmons also published op-eds in several regional outlets: with Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association President and CEO David Taylor (PennLive and the Philadelphia Citizen); and with Ohio Manufacturers’ Association President Ryan Augsburger ( Cleveland.com).