NAM commends Ways and Means Tax Bill

Posted on 16 May 2025 by The Manufacturer

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has commended the House Ways and Means Committee and its Chairman Jason Smith (R-MO) for their bold leadership in acting on manufacturers’ top policy priority in our comprehensive manufacturing strategy: preserving and extending President Trump’s historic 2017 tax reforms.

NAM said the monumental action marks a vital step forward in securing a competitive tax environment that empowers manufacturers to create jobs, invest, grow and compete.

“Chairman Smith and the Ways and Means Committee are delivering what manufacturers in America have called for and what our industry needs to compete and win,” said NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons. “The 2017 tax reforms were rocket fuel for manufacturers—driving job growth, higher wages and investment in communities. This bill brings us closer to the vision of a 15% effective tax rate for manufacturers that President Trump and I discussed in 2016.

“For the 96% of manufacturers that are organized as pass-through businesses, this bill is more than policy—it’s a path to growth. It means the ability to buy equipment, hire workers, increase pay and expand operations with greater certainty and confidence. Not only is the Ways and Means Committee preserving the benefits of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act for these businesses—this bill makes the law even more competitive, including by increasing and making permanent the job-creating pass-through deduction.

“The Ways and Means Committee’s bill reflects the full range of NAM tax priorities, which will drive manufacturing growth in America. To support small business job creation, the bill increases and makes permanent the pass-through deduction, also protects more family-owned manufacturers from the estate tax and maintains the TCJA’s pro-growth tax rates. To bolster America’s competitiveness on the world stage, the bill preserves the 21% corporate tax rate as well as the TCJA’s international tax provisions. And to incentivize investment and innovation in the United States, the bill revives and extends immediate R&D expensing, full expensing for capital equipment purchases and a pro-growth standard for interest deductibility.

“The stakes are clear: failing to preserve these policies will put nearly 6 million American jobs at risk. To keep the rocket fueled, Congress must act on the Ways and Means bill and make these pro-growth tax provisions permanent—because when manufacturing wins, America wins.”

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