The US manufacturing industry is calling for “aggressive” action from the government to help the industry better respond to Covid-19, including the creation of a US$1.4trn resiliency fund for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).
As part of its ‘Covid-19 Policy Action Plan Recommendations‘ the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) is requesting the federal government create the ‘Manufacturing Resiliency Fund’, which would include $1.4trn in loans to provide “desperately needed liquidity” to manufacturers and small businesses, protecting the nearly 13m men and women working within the industry and ensuring their financial security.
Manufacturers are also calling on the government to adopt a federal designation that deems the manufacturing supply chain “essential” to help mitigate any interruptions in providing the supplies that are “critical” to the health and safety of America.
“As manufacturers mobilise to protect the health and well being of our communities and country, the NAM is releasing an expanded set of ‘Policy Action Plan Recommendations’ for Congress and federal agencies,” said NAM president and CEO Jay Timmons. “Our leaders have already acted on many of our original proposals, and if they continue to move swiftly and boldly, manufacturers will be able to rise to this challenge and keep our country healthy, all while ensuring the resilience of our workers, our industry and our economy. This is a crisis unlike anything we’ve seen, and it demands a response of historic proportion.”
The NAM’s updated and expanded ‘Covid-19 Policy Action Plan Recommendations’ identifies five key policy areas where legislative and administrative action would help combat Covid-19 and future public health emergencies:
- Recognise manufacturers’ critical role in the Covid-19 response
- Protect manufacturers from insolvency
- Ensure economic security for manufacturing workers
- Reduce regulatory burdens
- Set the stage for economic growth
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