Excited About Possibilities Ahead: Timmons on Trump, Manufacturing

Where are the hearts of manufacturers on this? Well, look, I mean, we're excited about the possibilities ahead, Joe, to be quite honest. If we look back to 2017 and those incredible tax cuts, the tax reform package that was put into place, which President Trump announced at our board meeting, as a matter of fact. I think you called it rocket fuel. He called it rocket fuel. He was definitely on message that day. And that's exactly what it provided. It provided record investment, record job growth, record wage growth over the next several years. So our number one priority is to get that renewed because several of those provisions either have expired or will expire in 2025. So get that renewed. And then our second top priority that I know the president is very focused on is getting our arms around the regulatory morass that is costing manufacturers $350 billion every single year and hurting small manufacturers even the worst. The big red tape in the sky. Let's pick through these one by one, because some people worry these tax cuts will help to explode the deficit. Is that a concern for manufacturers? Well, look, I mean, budgets are all about priorities. And we're encouraged to see that the Doge Commission will be looking at all facets of government to make sure that it's running efficiently and effectively and hopefully reducing the cost of government. But what we do know is this. You cannot have a successful economy if you don't have a strong manufacturing base. So to focus on growing manufacturing in the United States is really the first step in ensuring that your economy is on solid footing. So all of those things that we just talked about, taxes and regulation and the cost of and really focus on building out our technological prowess here in the United States is going to go a long way to making sure that we are that powerhouse. Regulations the other component that you mentioned. What's the first regulation you want the president to look to cut? You know, the good thing about the first Trump administration is they didn't really focus on just one thing at a time. And I have a feeling that's going to be the same way this time. It's going to be a lot of Sharpies. Yeah, there's going to be a lot going on. There's actually three dozen significant, onerous, costly regulations that we have sent to President Trump and members of his, the designees to his cabinet to take a look at. Three dozen of those. Three dozen, sorry. Yeah, three dozen. And those are some of the major ones that we think that they need to look at right away that are causing manufacturers to pull back. Is it environmental? Well, you know, there's a, there's a lot of things that, that they can look at at the same time. But I can say number one to really help unleash America's energy dominance, the LNG export ban that was put into place by the Biden administration. And unfortunately that is really sending really bad signals to energy producers here in the United States. Permitting reform is going to be critical. The proxy advisory rule that was negotiated during the first Trump administration and then got changed in, in the Biden administration. We need to go back to that. PM 2.5 is an environmental rule that is literally creating a situation where there will not be able to be manufacturing investment in a lot of major cities because of the particulate matter number that, that EPA measures. And so a lot of those things are kind of common sense and just need to be dealt with quickly. Well, but we know he's going to do it pretty quick. The specifics are helpful. This is, this is good. I want to get to you on tariffs. I bet you know Gene Sirocco who runs the port of LA. He sat down with us here at the table just a couple of days ago. Here's what he had to say about the way retailers as well as manufacturers, the point of this conversation are preparing for Donald Trump's proposed tariffs plan. Listen. We've spoken to a lot of the importers, retailers, manufacturers, those that bring in the intermediary parts and they are bringing in a little more cargo than they normally would in anticipation to build up inventories should prices go up through tariffs. What does front running mean for manufacturers and is this something that keeps you up at night, this idea of tariffs changing the landscape? Well, look, I think as this discussion of tariffs unfolds, I think what we, we really hope to see is that if tariff, if the tariff tool is utilized, we hope that that's done in a very strategically targeted way to address policy problems that we're seeing coming out of other countries. So you think in terms of the theft of intellectual property, you think of dumping or subsidization. We've seen a lot of that coming from China. So if, if tariffs are targeted very strategically, you can address those issues. If they're broad based, then there could be some issues as, as it relates to inflationary costs for consumers. I don't think we have the playbook yet out of the administration. I think we're waiting to see what, what the president wants to do for that conversation. Well, I've certainly hope, I certainly hope so because manufacturers can, can provide data. You're at the center of this. And we, that's right. We, we, we certainly can provide the data that I think that that we're going to want to consider as they make these decisions. I try to put myself in your shoes and I remember talking to you during the Biden administration when you endorsed the infrastructure bill, now law. I've heard you talk about the Enhancements Chips Act, correct? Enhancements that you've also talked about going back through the Obama administration, the Bush administration, Clinton, you even point out Ronald Reagan. You're a diplomat, you're an emissary for the manufacturing sector. It sounds like not only are you willing to work with anybody, but you seem to find an area of common ground with no matter who's in that White House. Is that fair to say? I think it's fair to say that every president that has been in office during my lifetime has understood the importance of manufacturing to a strong and robust economy and, and to America's economic dominance around the world, right? So I do go back to Reagan and I think of Reagan and Bush 41 and Clinton and Bush 43 and Obama and what they did to open up markets around the world. Even though a lot of jobs left in those years. Well, you know, there are, well, and then, so to your point, Joe, you open up those markets, but then what's the next step you have to take? And that's what Donald Trump did. He took the next step and he said, now we want to make sure that folks are investing in America. We do that by reducing the cost of doing business. So those tax cuts, yes, were rocket fuel for investment and job creation. And the regulatory certainty that he put in place was so important as well. And then in the Biden administration, to your point, we, we invested in infrastructure, we invested in specific areas of the economy that were national security concerns like chips and science act, as well as kind of that transition, that energy transition that's occurring through some policy provisions of the IRA. Cause it's been this continuum and I think president Trump understands that he has a unique opportunity to really just supercharge it even further. And we're pretty excited about that.