January 27, 2017
America’s economy is the greatest in the world. However, I think we can all agree that we are far from reaching our potential. Anemic growth, flat wages, and more than 94 million people out of the workforce is a good place to start the conversation.
Let’s talk about jobs. Recently, the news headlines hailed the saving of 1,500 jobs in Indiana (Carrier Corporation). While I think we can all appreciate the good intentions of President Trump in pursuing this action and even applaud Carrier for taking the high road, most business people can agree that this action is really out of sync with our free-market economy.
So, how can the new Trump administration save jobs and do it right? Well, I’ve not been part of Trump’s inner circle of advisers, but if I were, I would counsel the president to work with Congress to create a business climate that encourages business to grow here rather than relocate elsewhere. How? Well, from a federal level, this starts by rewriting the corporate tax code. According to the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the United States—and also our Canadian neighbors—has the highest corporate tax burden of any other of our G8 partners. This, coupled with various regulatory burdens and labor costs, puts our manufacturing sector at a 22 percent disadvantage right out of the gate.
We need to take a fresh look at what’s on the books now and see how we can lessen the burden placed on businesses, especially small, privately help companies such as AICC’s members.
Now, I’m not suggesting we dismantle all environmental regulation or labor laws. But we do need to take a fresh look at what’s on the books now and see how we can lessen the burden placed on businesses, especially small, privately held companies such as AICC’s general members. Capping the amount of regulatory costs Washington can impose on your businesses and ending needless delays on energy and pipeline projects would be a good start toward lowering costs and creating more well-paying jobs. Personally, I endorse Trump’s suggestion that it be a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations be eliminated.
In the past four years, we have numerous examples of enacted regulation—many solely by executive order—that pits the government against business. The Department of Labor’s overtime rule (challenged now in court); the EPA’s clean-power standards; and the National Labor Relations Board’s (NLRB) union organizing and election guidelines come immediately to mind.
It seems to me that we in the manufacturing community have a wonderful opportunity in the coming years to retool our country’s approach to economic and business policy. In the coming of BoxScore, I want to explore how we can better work as an association united in this effort. Our most public way of influencing federal policy is our Washington Fly-In, held annually in June. This year, we will again be joined by the Printing Industries of America (PIA), but we are also reaching out to other packaging-related organizations to create a sort of “Paper, Printing, and Packaging Consortium” to amplify our voice.
So, as I have in many past editions of this column, I encourage you to set aside the time to come to Washington this year and be part of a new era in our relationship with federal legislators and policy makers. Details will be available soon.
John Forrey is president of Specialty Industries and NuPak Printing in Red Lion, Pa., and is Chair of AICC’s Government Affairs Committee. He can be reached at 717-246-4301 or jforrey@specialtyindustries.com.
