NAM Achieves Year-End Victories on Trade, Health Care, and Taxes

The NAM scored significant legislative wins for manufacturers this week, many of them years in the making. Recently the House approved the United States–Mexico–Canada Agreement, in a strong bipartisan vote of 385-41, sending it to the Senate for a vote in early 2020. Both chambers passed government funding legislation that includes a seven-year reauthorization of the Export-Import Bank, repeals the onerous medical device tax, health insurance tax and “Cadillac” tax, and extends through 2020 several expiring tax provisions—including those related to dividends paid by controlled foreign corporations; two-wheeled electric vehicles; the alternative fuels mixture credit; the work opportunity tax credit; and an excise tax reduction for beer, wine and spirits. 

For months, in some cases years, the NAM has been leading manufacturers and members of the business community to voice their support for these issues with members of Congress. As NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons said in a statement on the USMCA, “The NAM’s nationwide efforts activated manufacturing workers and supporters, reaching members of Congress with thousands of pro-USMCA letters, calls, and meetings. In doing so, we drove the narrative, making the USMCA not about partisan politics but about good policy for growing manufacturing in America.” Ahead of the votes this week, the NAM called on every member of Congress once again to support manufacturers on the USMCA, as well as the Ex-Im Bank and the health care taxes.

Following the vote on the funding bill, Timmons said, “Manufacturers continue to rack up victories for the men and women of our industry as the year comes to a close….[T]his vote proves once again that even in a fiercely divided Washington, manufacturers can break through and get important work done for the good of our industry and the American people.” Click here to watch Timmons discuss what the USMCA means for manufacturers on Bloomberg Television’s “Balance of Power” this week.

Late last week, negotiators in the ongoing U.S.–China trade discussions reached a “phase one” deal, securing a key win for manufacturers. The deal includes concrete wins to protect a broad range of U.S. intellectual property, such as trade secrets, and provides new enforcement tools to tackle longstanding issues, such as China-based counterfeiting, that have harmed manufacturing innovations and, most importantly, the jobs of American workers. China also agreed to specific purchases of American-manufactured products and new enforcement mechanisms in case China does not meet its commitments. The deal also includes the suspension and reduction of some U.S. and Chinese tariffs. These steps will help to relieve some of the trade uncertainty manufacturers have been enduring.

“For two years, manufacturers have been the leading voice for an enforceable agreement to make China play by the rules and stop cheating once and for all. This is an enormous step forward to achieving that goal,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons shortly after the announcement of the deal. “Today’s announcement represents real progress, and manufacturers look forward to working with President Trump and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer to achieve additional concrete outcomes on other key unfair trade practices that translate into a lasting, game-changing agreement.” For more on what the trade deal means for manufacturers, watch Timmons on Fox Business and Bloomberg Television and Snap-on Chairman and CEO and NAM Tax and Domestic Economic Policy Vice Chair Nick Pinchuk on CNBC.

The NAM first called for the administration to pursue a bilateral trade agreement with China in a letter from Timmons to President Trump in January 2018. In August 2018, the NAM released a full negotiating objectives framework for an agreement that will address China’s unfair trade practices and level the playing field for manufacturers in the United States. The NAM will continue to work with administration officials and congressional offices on a comprehensive, enforceable trade deal that addresses manufacturers’ concerns.

Author Unknown, for the National Association of Manufacturers.