Timmons Talks Trade, Tax, AI, And Workforce In NY Media Tour National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) President and CEO Jay Timmons appeared in a series of national media shows last week, highlighting industry optimism alongside persistent challenges in workforce and trade. During a visit to the Nasdaq MarketSite, Timmons spoke with Frank Holland on CNBC’s Worldwide Exchange about manufacturers’ outlook heading into 2026. He noted that sentiment across the sector remains pos- itive, bolstered by tax reforms, regulatory modernization, and renewed U.S. energy strength. “Manufacturers overall are pretty optimistic,” Timmons said. “Our members have about a 65 percent positive outlook on manufacturing. That’s up 10 percent since earlier this year, largely due to the tax bill passed in July. It really was a signal that Ameri- ca continues to be serious about being open for business and attracting investment and job creation.” On NewsNation’s NewsNation Now, Timmons dis- cussed trade and investment policies, emphasizing the NAM’s proposed “speed pass” proposal with the U.S. Treasury. The plan would allow for duty exemptions on im- ports directly tied to domestic manufacturing growth. “If we’re raising the cost of our ability to create more volume or capacity here, that’s not going to work,” he said. “We’re proposing a speed pass to make sure that if something helps us grow manufacturing capacity, it can come into the country without a duty.” Timmons also joined Bloomberg’s Surveillance Radio with Tom Keene and Paul Sweeney to talk tariffs and en- ergy policy. He credited regulatory modernization and energy policy as positives but cited ongoing uncertainty around tariffs as a key headwind. “If we had every machine running in this country today, we would only be able to make 84 percent of the critical inputs necessary to build that new factory,” Timmons said. “That means we must im- port the remaining 16 percent, and tariffs add costs.” Wrapping up the two-day tour on Yahoo Finance with Julie Hyman, Timmons discussed workforce development and artificial intelligence. “Manufacturing is an incredible career that pays more than any other sector of the econo- my,” he said. “But we still struggle with perception—many see manufacturing through an outdated lens.” He noted that the sector continues to face significant labor shortages, with more than 400,000 open manu- facturing positions across the country. “There just aren’t enough people in the country to fill all the jobs we have,” he said. Timmons also pointed to rapid technological advance- ment, noting that about 50 percent of manufacturers al- ready integrate AI into their operations. That figure is ex- pected to reach 60 percent by 2027 and 80 percent by 2030. “We’re going to need more people to operate and design these systems,” he said. “That’s just a matter of training and education, which I think we can accomplish.”
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