Timmons: The Stakes for Manufacturers Could Not Be Higher

The new tariffs President Trump announced Wednesday have left manufacturers in the U.S. scrambling—but there are steps the administration can take now to “minimiz[e] disruptions and cost increases across our industry,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said.

What’s going on: “The stakes for manufacturers could not be higher,” Timmons said in a statement yesterday evening. “Many manufacturers in the United States already operate with thin margins. The high costs of new tariffs threaten investment, jobs, supply chains and, in turn, America’s ability to outcompete other nations and lead as the preeminent manufacturing superpower.”

Timmons talked in greater detail about the effects of tariffs on manufacturing in the U.S. on CNBC’s “Worldwide Exchange” Wednesday morning ahead of the President’s tariff announcement.

What should be done: Manufacturers share the administration’s objective of bolstering “investment, growth and expansion here at home,” Timmons continued Wednesday afternoon. To achieve that goal, the administration should:

Minimize tariff costs for manufacturers that are investing and expanding in the U.S.;
Ensure tariff-free access to critical inputs used by manufacturers to make things in America; and
Secure better terms for manufacturers by negotiating “zero-for-zero” tariffs for American-made products in our trading partners’ markets (i.e., they don’t charge us and we don’t charge them).

Part of a bigger strategy: “A clear, strategic approach to trade must be part of a comprehensive manufacturing strategy that starts with an urgent appeal to Congress to make the 2017 tax reforms permanent,” Timmons said.

Those tax provisions acted like “rocket fuel” for the manufacturing sector and the American economy in general. Extending the measures that are due to expire and renewing those that already have expired will boost U.S. competitiveness again, he said.

NAM in the news: The NAM’s response to the tariffs made a big impression, garnering extensive media coverage.

The Wall Street Journal (subscription), The New York Times (subscription), The Washington Post (subscription), POLITICO Influence (subscription), POLITICO Pro’s Morning Trade (subscription), CNN News Central, FOX 5’s Good Day DC, FOX 26’s Houston Morning Show and Newsmax TV cited the NAM’s statement on the impact of tariffs on manufacturers.