NAM: Trade Policies Shake Up Manufacturers’ Economic Outlook Manufacturers are increasingly worried about the future of trade and rising raw material costs, according to the Q1 2025 National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) Manu- facturers’ Outlook Survey. In the most recent survey, trade uncertainties moved to the top of the list of manufacturers’ concerns—with 76.2 percent of respondents citing them as their primary worry. Increased raw material costs came in second, cited by 62.3 percent of those surveyed. Manufacturers expect prices on their companies’ prod- uct lines to go up by 3.6 percent in the next year, an in- crease from 2.3 percent in Q4 2024 and the highest since Q3 2022, when inflation was more than 8 percent. Manu- facturers also anticipate the cost of raw materials and other
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inputs to rise 5.5 percent in the next year, the highest ex- pected rate of increase since Q2 2022, when inflation was between 8 percent and 9 percent. Manufacturers also feel strongly that their businesses need the “rocket fuel” of the tax reform extension. If Con- gress fails to extend pro-manufacturing provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017: • 69.35 percent of respondents said they would delay capital equipment purchases; • 45.23 percent would delay hiring; • 44.72 percent would pause operations expansions; • 41.71 percent would limit R&D investment; and • 40.20 percent would curb employee wages or benefits increases. “The pressure of increased costs, trade instability and sluggish demand is dampening the sector’s momentum, making it more difficult for manufacturers to plan, invest and hire,” NAM President and CEO Jay Timmons wrote in a social post. “We are calling for a comprehensive manufac- turing strategy that includes a commonsense trade policy in addition to making President Trump’s 2017 tax reforms permanent and more competitive, securing regulatory cer- tainty, expediting permitting reform to unleash American energy dominance and key manufacturing projects and in- creasing the talent pool.”
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March 17, 2025
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