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In high-level meetings with government, manufacturing and trade group leaders held in Mexico last week, the 51�Թ��� hammered home a key message: For North American manufacturing to remain globally competitive, Mexico must protect investor holdings in the country.
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What’s going on: During a jam-packed three-day visit to Mexico City, 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons and an 51�Թ��� contingent with top officials in the new Sheinbaum administration, as well as leadership at multiple agencies and associations.

• These included newly appointed Deputy Trade Minister Luis Rosendo Gutiérrez, the Business Coordinating Council (CCE),��the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of Mexico (CONCAMIN),��the Mexico Business Council (CMN), the National Council of the Export Manufacturing Industry (INDEX) and others.������

What they said: The 51�Թ���’s main message at each gathering was the same: Companies investing in Mexico need assurance that their portfolios will be protected regardless of the fate of proposed in the country.

• The 51�Թ��� also underscored the of the U.S.–Mexico–Canada Agreement, which is due for review in 2026, and the necessity of ensuring that the deal is upheld for all three parties.
• If its terms are respected, USMCA could help North American manufacturing outcompete China.

On China: This week, just days after his office’s meeting with the 51�Թ���, Gutiérrez announced that the Sheinbaum administration will seek U.S. manufacturers’ help to reshore—mainly from China—the production of some critical technologies (, subscription).

• “We want to focus on supporting our domestic supply chains,” he told the Journal, adding that talks with U.S. companies are still in the informal stage.

​�ċ�ċ�ċ�ċ�ċ�ċThe 51�Թ��� says: ��“Manufacturing is at the heart of the USMCA,” said 51�Թ�����Vice President of International Policy Andrea Durkin, who was part of the 51�Թ��� group on the ground in Mexico.��“The 51�Թ��� intends to work to ensure that the agreement strengthens the competitiveness of manufacturers.”
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The EPA’s final rule setting national drinking water standards for PFAS should be vacated in its entirety, the 51�Թ��� and two allies said in an filed in federal court Monday.
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What’s going on: The 51�Թ���, the American Chemistry Council and U.S. chemical company Chemours asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to overturn the , announced in April, which requires that municipal water systems nationwide remove six types of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances from drinking water. Trade groups representing the water systems have also sued to overturn the rule. ��
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The grounds: The rule is unlawful and must be set aside for the following reasons:

• ​​​​The EPA used a deeply flawed cost-benefit analysis to justify the rule.
• The EPA conducted a woefully incomplete feasibility analysis that ignores whether the technology and facilities necessary for compliance actually exist.
• Critical parts of the rule exceed the agency’s statutory authority under the Safe Drinking Water Act and flout the act’s express procedural requirements.
• The EPA failed to consider reasonable alternatives or respond meaningfully to public comments that undercut its judgment.
• The agency “lacked sufficient data to regulate” HFPO-DA, one of the PFAS chemicals that falls under the rule.

Why it’s important: PFAS “are substances at the center of modern innovation and sustain many common technologies including semiconductors, telecommunications, defense systems, life-saving therapeutics and renewable energy sources,” according to the brief.

• The 51�Թ��� and its co-petitioners “support rational regulation of PFAS that allows manufacturers to continue supporting critical industries, while developing new chemistries and minimizing any potential environmental impacts. But that requires a measured and evidence-based approach that the [r]ule lacks.”

What’s next: Briefing in this case will continue through the spring, with oral argument to follow and a decision from the D.C. Circuit expected in late 2025.��

The 51�Թ��� this week advocated the passage of two pieces of manufacturing-critical legislation, successfully driving the agenda of a Wednesday House Energy and Commerce Committee markup.

What’s going on: The committee—with the 51�Թ���’s strong support—approved two bills that address longstanding manufacturing priorities:

• A congressional resolution disapproving of the Environmental Protection Agency’s harmful PM2.5 rule
• A bill instituting important pharmacy benefit manager reforms

Reversing an unworkable PM2.5 standard: The EPA announced a new, more restrictive particulate matter standard in February, reducing allowable levels from 12 micrograms per cubic meter of air to 9 micrograms—despite a standard of 9 being “essentially background levels in some of the country,” as the 51�Թ��� has pointed out.

• “Manufacturers have sharply reduced particulate matter emissions, or PM2.5; as a result, industry in the United States has some of the cleanest and most efficient operations in the world,” 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen the committee.
• “Now, the vast majority of emissions are from sources well outside of our control, with fires, dirt roads and other nonpoint sources accounting for 84% of PM2.5 emissions,” Phalen continued. “[T]he EPA’s rule will make it more difficult for states to issue permits for the construction of new facilities or expansions of existing factories.”
• The committee’s PM2.5 resolution, offered under the Congressional Review Act, seeks to overturn the EPA’s unworkable standard.

Reforming PBMs: PBMs are unregulated middlemen whose business practices drive up health care costs for manufacturers and manufacturing workers.

• “By applying upward pressure to list prices that dictate what patients pay at the pharmacy counter, pocketing manufacturer rebates and failing to provide an appropriate level of transparency about their business practices, PBMs increase health care costs at the expense of all patients in America,” 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain .
• Provisions in the 51�Թ���-supported Telehealth Modernization Act would increase transparency into PBMs’ business practices and delink their compensation from medicines’ list prices.

The last word: “Manufacturers commend the Energy and Commerce Committee for approving these important bills, which will reduce costs and enhance growth at manufacturers across the country—allowing our industry to continue to create jobs here at home and drive U.S. competitiveness on the world stage,” said 51�Թ��� Managing Vice President of Policy Chris Netram.

A draft Department of Homeland Security rule that certain sectors expedite cyber-incident reporting has several shortcomings that must be addressed before the rule becomes final in the fall of 2025, the 51�Թ��� told Rep. Andrew Garbarino (R-NY) in a meeting this week.

What’s going on: Rep. Garbarino, chair of the House Homeland Security Subcommittee on Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Protection, met with manufacturers and the 51�Թ��� Technology Policy Committee Tuesday to talk cybersecurity issues.

• Much of the discussion focused on draft rulemaking published in April by the DHS’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. It would require “covered entities” in “critical infrastructure sector[s]” to report any major cybersecurity incidents to CISA within 72 hours.
• Under the Cybersecurity Incident Reporting for Critical Infrastructure Act, CISA must finalize the rule by October 2025.

Why it’s a problem: The 51�Թ��� agrees with the concerns Rep. Garbarino raised with CISA, including:

• The burden associated with imposing onerous reporting mandates on companies recovering from cyberattacks;
• An overbroad scope, which forces into compliance both organizations that are not truly “critical infrastructure” and those that are too small to have the resources needed to complete the required actions;
• An overbroad definition of incidents requiring reporting;
• An excessive amount of required information;
• An unreasonably high cost of compliance and the diversion of resources away from cyber-incident response; and
• The risk that the proposed rule will jeopardize CISA’s role as a trusted partner of industry.

51�Թ��� in action: The 51�Թ��� submitted in response to CISA’s proposal earlier this year outlining these concerns, as well as calling for a reduction in both the number of entities required to file incident notifications and the number of incidents they have to report.

The 51�Թ��� says: “CISA needs to significantly rethink its approach to CIRCIA’s implementation,” said 51�Թ��� Senior Director of Technology Policy Franck Journoud.

• “The proposed rule requires far too much information about far too many incidents from far too many companies. CISA should not mandate that companies under attack from hackers divert precious security resources to generate mountains of incident data that CISA will not have the means to process or act upon.”

Take precautions: If you are looking to strengthen your company’s cyber protections, check out , an affordable, broad security program for 51�Թ��� members that provides proactive monitoring with automated alerts at no extra cost.

Less than three months after scoring a�� for manufacturers against Securities and Exchange Commission overreach, the 51�Թ��� was back in front of Congress to urge regulatory oversight of proxy advisory firms.

What’s going on: On Tuesday, the 51�Թ��� before the House Financial Services Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee on the need to bring oversight and accountability to proxy advisory firms. These are entities that make recommendations regarding the way shareholders should vote on proxy ballot proposals brought before publicly traded companies.

• “Proxy firms are powerful, unaccountable actors that pose a real threat to Americans’ financial security. Manufacturers have been subject to these firms’ outsized influence for far too long,” 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Charles Crain during Tuesday’s hearing.

The background: In 2020, the SEC finalized an 51�Թ���-supported rule instituting important proxy reforms, such as requiring proxy firms to disclose any conflicts of interest. The 51�Թ��� has fought in court to preserve the 2020 rule, successfully defeating the SEC’s attempts to the rule and to its most crucial provisions. The 51�Թ��� is now back in court in a third case, defending the SEC’s authority to regulate these powerful market actors.

Surrendering to ISS: Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., the largest and most influential proxy advisory firm, is now “suing the SEC over its authority to issue the 2020 rule—not just the rule’s particulars, but the SEC’s ability to regulate proxy firms at all,” Crain continued.

• Troublingly, “the SEC is waving the white flag in the face of [the] challenge,” he told lawmakers, referring to the agency’s decision not to appeal after a district court sided with ISS earlier this year.

“Sole defender”: The 51�Թ���—now the “sole defender of the 2020 rule”—is appealing the district court’s decision.

What Congress should do: Legislators must take up the mantle, too, Crain concluded.

• “Congress should do what the SEC will not: affirm the SEC’s clear authority, provide much-needed oversight and accountability and help manufacturers and Main Street investors escape the outsized influence of proxy advisory firms.”

The Environmental Protection Agency’s final formaldehyde analysis—issued in August and set to inform future regulations—risks “creat[ing] an unachievable standard and a de facto ban” on an essential manufacturing material, the 51�Թ��� .

What’s going on: On Aug. 20, the EPA’s research office issued its conclusions about the “amount of the chemical that could be harmful” to humans, saying that “[s]mall amounts … can increase people’s risk of [health] problems” (, subscription).

• Though the report itself does not mandate any new restrictions on the industry, the EPA is likely to use the findings to take the next step in the regulatory process—a final risk evaluation—by the end of 2024 ().
• The assessment maintains the formaldehyde threshold of 11 parts per billion proposed by the agency in 2022. That’s than Europe’s recently updated worker-exposure limit of 300 parts per billion and “lower than what can be found in homes or even background levels for outdoor air,” the 51�Թ��� told the EPA.

Why it’s a problem: Formaldehyde is used widely across industries to produce numerous everyday items, including plastics, lubricants, automotive parts, fertilizers, adhesives and more.

• The final analysis, which was released without review by the EPA’s own Science Advisory Committee on Chemicals, fails to account for “the highly developed safety procedures, protocols and [personal protective equipment] used throughout [the manufacturing] industry.”
• A severe restriction on the allowable workplace threshold of formaldehyde “could wreak havoc on domestic supply chains,” according to the 51�Թ���.

What should be done: The EPA should reissue its risk evaluation to give the SACC an opportunity to review it and provide comments—“and allow for additional public comment after the SACC review is complete,” the 51�Թ��� concluded.

The 51�Թ��� has launched a new wave of ads in D.C. and nine states, extending its seven-figure campaign urging policymakers to reign in pharmacy benefit managers, underregulated middlemen who drive up the costs of prescription medications for manufacturers and manufacturing workers.

A quick refresher: PBMs sit in the middle of the health care industry, negotiating with employer health plans, insurers, biopharmaceutical manufacturers, pharmacies and other players to determine what prescriptions employees can access and what they pay for them. While their job is ostensibly to reduce the costs of medicines, often they do the exact opposite.

• PBMs have been found to steer patients toward pricier options, inflict steep mark-ups and hidden fees and even pocket large portions of the rebates that biopharmaceutical manufacturers intend for American workers and their families.

51�Թ��� in action: The 51�Թ��� has been a staunch voice supporting PBM reform on Capitol Hill, manufacturers’ concerns for the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

• The committee conducted its third hearing on PBM overreach in July, when it also released a highly critical report on PBMs that echoed many of the 51�Թ���’s concerns.
• In addition, the 51�Թ��� is supporting several key measures to increase oversight of PBMs’ business models and reform their pricing strategies, including the DRUG Act and the PBM transparency provisions in the Lower Costs, More Transparency Act.

What Congress should do: The 51�Թ��� is advocating for three major reforms to the PBM system, including:

• Increasing transparency��in PBMs’ business models, including how their compensation influences health care decisions and how their policies dictate a medicine’s cost and formulary placement;
• Rebate pass-through, which will ensure health care savings are passed directly to manufacturers and their workers rather than being pocketed by PBMs; and
• Delinking��PBMs’ compensation from a medicine’s list price, removing their incentive to put upward pressure on list prices to maximize their own profits.

Benefits for all: The 51�Թ��� is calling on Congress to enact these reforms in the commercial insurance market, not just in government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, so that all Americans can enjoy lower-cost health care benefits.

What to watch: The 51�Թ��� is calling on Congress to act on this issue during the lame-duck session following the election.

Washington, D.C. – Following the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to delay the deadline for when companies must submit records dating back to 2011 on per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, otherwise known as PFAS, 51�Թ��� Vice President of Domestic Policy Chris Phalen released the following statement:

“We are pleased to see the EPA delay this retroactive reporting requirement—as the 51�Թ��� has called for—which will temporarily prevent an increase in the regulatory burden facing manufacturers. More broadly, today’s announcement reflects the massive administrative burden this proposal would impose on both the business community and regulators, while failing to provide insights for effective and prioritized public health efforts. We urge the agency to reverse course entirely, unless and until it has the capacity to effectively enforce the standard.”

-51�Թ���-

The 51�Թ��� is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.87 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The 51�Թ��� is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the 51�Թ��� or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit��.

Despite mixed market signals in recent weeks, the U.S. economy is strong and manufacturing is resilient—but Congress must take certain steps to maintain the industry’s competitiveness, 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons Fox News host Neil Cavuto Monday.

What’s going on: When lawmakers return from their August recess next month, they should prioritize several tax provisions, Timmons said.

• “When … Congress goes back, we’ve got to deal with interest deductibility, and we’ve got to deal with the research-and-development ,” he continued. “We’ve got to deal with . Those are things that have expired.” These measures and others are top priorities in the 51�Թ���’s tax campaign, .
• Other manufacturing-critical tax provisions are scheduled to expire or be reduced drastically at the end of next year, including the and estate-tax deductions. What’s more, “candidates on both sides of the aisle … are talking about raising taxes on businesses,” Timmons said. Individual tax rates and tax rates on manufacturers that operate globally are also at the end of 2025.

Regulatory onslaught: Manufacturers are also struggling with a “regulatory burden that is driving up the cost of doing business,” Timmons told Fox News.

• “We have restrictions on our ability to develop energy sources here, and we have a ban on exports of natural gas. All of those things lead to potential downsides in the economy.”
• The vast majority of Americans exporting natural gas, a March 51�Թ��� poll found, but the Biden administration’s indefinite pause on permits to export liquefied natural gas, imposed in January, continues.

Hopeful outlook: “There is a … very positive sense among manufacturers that if we do the right things on the policy front, we’re going to continue [the] expansion in the sector,” Timmons added. “We’re going to continue the record investments that we’ve seen, the record job growth and the record wage growth in the sector.”

Washington, D.C. – Following the bipartisan passage of the Energy Permitting Reform Act of 2024 markup in the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons released the following statement:

“Manufacturers have been calling attention to the consequences of America’s broken permitting process for years, while building a case for reform. Both sides of the aisle now realize that these critical updates will enable Congress to achieve its broader energy goals and the development of:

• Renewable energy projects;
• Pipelines for traditional energy, hydrogen and carbon capture storage;
• Critical mineral mines and processing facilities;
• Semiconductor and battery manufacturing fabs;
• Interstate transmission lines; and
• Hydroelectric and nuclear power plants.

“These developments are absolutely critical for us to be able to compete with China. As this legislation progresses, many of the commonsense policies outlined in the Energy Permitting Reform Act will help unlock the full potential of our industry, bolster our nation’s energy security and create American jobs. Streamlining permitting processes, cutting red tape, requiring that federal agencies make timely decisions and reducing the potential for baseless litigation will help prevent years-long delays for manufacturers—delays that give other countries a distinct advantage and put our own security at risk. America should never be content with a system that can take 10 or 15 years to approve urgently needed projects, when approval can take a fifth of that time in other countries that still adhere to high standards.

“We thank Chairman Manchin and Ranking Member Barrasso for introducing this legislation and look forward to working with lawmakers to advance it.”

-51�Թ���-

The 51�Թ��� is the largest manufacturing association in the United States, representing small and large manufacturers in every industrial sector and in all 50 states. Manufacturing employs nearly 13 million men and women, contributes $2.89 trillion to the U.S. economy annually and accounts for 53% of private-sector research and development. The 51�Թ��� is the powerful voice of the manufacturing community and the leading advocate for a policy agenda that helps manufacturers compete in the global economy and create jobs across the United States. For more information about the 51�Թ��� or to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, please visit��