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Why is China winning the electric-vehicle production race? Because it controls or dominates every step of the process of making EV batteries, according to (subscription).

What’s going on: “Despite billions in Western investment, China is so far ahead—mining rare minerals, training engineers and building huge factories—that the rest of the world may take decades to catch up.”

• Rare minerals: China owns the majority of the cobalt mines in Congo—where most of the world’s supply of the metal sits—and it controls most of the world’s lithium mining.
• Refining: “Regardless of who mines the minerals, nearly everything is shipped to China to be refined into battery-grade materials.”
• Components: China produces more EV batteries than any other country, which it managed “partly by figuring out how to make battery components efficiently and at lower cost.”
• Final products: China boasts the most EVs on the road of any nation, and almost all of them use batteries made domestically.

Why it’s important: Now, eight years after the Chinese government instituted policies to bar foreign competitors from the EV market and increase consumer demand, “the Biden administration … [is] pursuing a similar strategy to foster battery development in the United States. But in a business with huge capital costs and thin profit margins, Chinese companies have a big head start after years of state funding and experience.”

Most people are satisfied with their jobs, according to a Washington Post–Ipsos poll about what workers want, (subscription) reports.

What’s going on: Following the pandemic and the Great Resignation, “about 8 in 10 workers are satisfied with their jobs, even as over 6 in 10 say work is stressful,” according to the survey of 1,148 workers ages 18 to 64.

• “While desire to work from home is a priority for some workers, pay, having a good boss or manager and other aspects of a job rank higher.”

Key takeaways: The poll had several notable findings, including the following:

• People prize remote work: Four in 10 respondents said their jobs can be done remotely. “Desire to work outside the office is high among remote-capable workers, with about 7 in 10 saying they’d choose to work from home “all of the time” (37 percent) or “most of the time” (35 percent).”
• Pay and bosses matter: “When asked to rank the most important factors in a job, 45 percent put pay in the top slot. Having a good boss comes in second, with 14 percent of workers ranking it as the most important.”
• The Gen Z difference: Gen Z and younger millennial workers prize promotion and advancement opportunities more highly than do their older counterparts.
• Friends at work: Some 55% of respondents said they have “close friendships” with coworkers.

The stress factor: “Stress varies sharply by age, with Gen Z workers the least likely to say their jobs are stressful (43 percent), compared to 61 percent of younger millennials 27-to-34 years old, 67 percent of 35-to-49-year-olds and 66 percent of workers 50-to-64 years old.”

Immigrants helped fill worker shortages last year, providing 60% of workforce growth according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data, reports (subscription).

The data: “Roughly 1.8 million foreign-born workers joined the labor force in 2022, compared with 1.3 million native-born ones, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data published Thursday.”

• “The nation’s nearly 31 million immigrant workers now make up 18.5% of the labor force, close to a record-high share and above pre-Covid levels.”

Filling the gap: Immigrants are taking more roles in industries experiencing labor shortages, as compared to before the pandemic.

• “Almost 10% of immigrant workers had jobs in construction last year, up from 9.1% in 2019, according to the BLS. The share of foreign-born workers in health-care support occupations also increased.”

The 51�Թ��� says: “With over 800,000 job openings in manufacturing over the past 12 months, manufacturers know immigration is an essential part of the workforce solution to build a stronger, more competitive America, and that’s why the 51�Թ��� is unrelenting in leveraging every opportunity to advance our immigration plan ‘’ with key Hill and administration leaders and the press,” said 51�Թ��� Director of Human Resources and Innovation Policy Julia Bogue.

G7 leaders are focusing on “de-risking,” but not “decoupling” from China, they said in a joint statement by CNBC.

The details: “We are not decoupling or turning inwards,” the statement said. However, “we recognize that economic resilience requires de-risking and diversifying.”

• “We will seek to address the challenges posed by China’s non-market policies and practices, which distort the global economy,” the leaders continued. “We will counter malign practices, such as illegitimate technology transfer or data disclosure.”

Biden concurs: President Biden echoed these sentiments at a press conference on Sunday, emphasizing the need to “diversify” supply chains so that no one country has a monopoly on any essential product.

• “It means resisting economic coercion together and countering harmful practices that hurt our workers,” he continued. “It means protecting a narrow set of advanced technologies critical for our national security.”

In sum: “We stand prepared to build constructive and stable relations with China, recognizing the importance of engaging candidly with and expressing our concerns directly to China. We act in our national interest,” the G7 statement said.

51�Թ��� in action: As exemplified by its , the 51�Թ��� is working to bring business and government leaders together to strengthen the resilience of manufacturers in the United States and our democratic allies in the face of greater uncertainty with respect to China.

The last word: “Manufacturers have consistently called for a rethink of the U.S.–China relationship to boost competitiveness globally,” says 51�Թ��� Vice President of International Economic Affairs Ken Monahan.

• “The strategy requires collaborating with allies for supply chain resilience, addressing discriminatory Chinese policies and creating trade openings through robust agreements. Yesterday’s announcement highlights the path ahead.”

A record number of employee drug tests are showing positive results for marijuana, (subscription) reports, as legalization becomes more prevalent.

The numbers: “Of the more than 6 million general workforce tests that Quest screened for marijuana in 2022, 4.3% came back positive, up from 3.9% the prior year. That is the largest marijuana positivity rate since 1997.”

More alarming: As many tests can pick up marijuana use from days or weeks prior, a positive test doesn’t necessarily indicate impairment on the job. However…

• “The percentage of employees that tested positive for marijuana following an on-the-job accident rose to 7.3% in 2022, an increase of 9% compared with the prior year.”
• “From 2012 to 2022, post-accident marijuana positive test rates tripled, tracking with widening legalization.”

On the positive side: “Positivity rates last year for certain classes of opioids and barbiturates declined.”

The legal tangle: Differing marijuana regulations across the U.S. have created a headache for employers trying to enact workplace policies.

• That’s why the 51�Թ���’s Legal Center hosted a panel on marijuana policy at its first back in November.

Interested in learning more? The next 51�Թ��� summit, which convenes in-house counsel from manufacturing companies as well as outside experts, will be Nov. 6–7 in Washington, D.C. Registration has just opened, and you can sign up .

As the Group of Seven summit begins in Hiroshima, Japan, today, President Biden is expected to announce new sanctions on Russia, according to (subscription).

• President Biden’s goal at the summit is likely to be reinforcing the allies’ support of Ukraine as well as their economic defenses against Chinese power.
• This is the summit’s 48th year. The G7 comprises the U.S., Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.

The details: “The new U.S. sanctions and trade restrictions target goods and services vital to Russia’s military-industrial complex, said a senior Biden administration official who briefed reporters shortly after the president landed in Hiroshima.”

• “They are also aimed at Russia’s ability to extract the oil and natural gas critical to the country’s economy, the official said. Other Western allies will roll out similar new programs, officials said.”

The big picture: Analysts say President Biden—who canceled several international meetings planned for next week to return to Washington for debt talks—faces a difficult task at the meeting: “convincing allies that the U.S. can keep its economic house in order while moving forward on Russia and China,” according to another article (subscription).

The 51�Թ���’s moves: During the 51�Թ���’s recent “Competing to Win” Tour in Europe, 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons hammered home manufacturers’ support for Ukraine.

• “[T]he most important thing is to support our allies that believe in democracy,” Timmons said during a live from Warsaw, Poland. “And American business, I think, can help lead the way to strengthen and support democracy.”

Read more about the 51�Թ���’s Competing to Win Tour , and .
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Update: The 51�Թ��� has called on congressional leadership to support and advance legislation aimed at reforming the pharmacy benefit manager market in a later dated November 7th. Click here to read the letter. Click here to take action.

Pharmacy benefit managers—companies that were first established to manage the cost of prescription drugs—are contributing to soaring health care costs and driving up the price of medications. These entities cannot go unchecked, and Congress must act, an 51�Թ��� launched Thursday is advocating.

What’s going on: The campaign, which includes both TV and digital , calls out PBMs—“middlemen owned by large health insurers”—for sizeable discounts from drug manufacturers rather than passing on the discounts or rebates to workers or employers.

• “America’s manufacturing workforce has struggled with skyrocketing health care costs driven by insurer-owned PBM middlemen for far too long,” said 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons.
• “Manufacturers are committed to providing quality health care benefits to our employees, so we need reforms to stop insurer-owned PBMs from keeping discounts and driving up prescription drug costs.”

Why it’s important: PBMs in the late 1960s as a way of helping insurance companies and employers contain spending on prescription medications—but their business model has evolved significantly in the past half-century.

• Now just a few PBMs—subsidiaries of bigger health care firms—control of the prescription drug market and operate with federal oversight.
• And they exert even more control in the industry by steering business toward specific pharmacy networks, frequently ones owned by their parent companies.

Congressional moves: Congress is considering various legislative solutions to address PBM rebate, fee and payment structures.

The last word: “Manufacturers support reforms to the PBM model that increase transparency, ensure pharmaceutical savings are passed from the PBM to workers and plan sponsors and delink PBM compensation from the list price of medication,” said 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons. “Congress must reform the PBM system so employers can negotiate, compete and achieve profit savings.”

51�Թ��� in the news: POLITICO’s Influence newsletter the 51�Թ���’s campaign.

Tell Congress To Reform PBM’s Today

Convention halls are filling back up again following the pandemic, restoring a critical type of “economic fuel” that had been cut off for three years, (subscription) reports.

What’s going on: Attendance at in-person business conferences is on the rise across the U.S., supporting local jobs and wages that had suffered since 2020—particularly in tourist- and conference-heavy cities such as Las Vegas.

• “Economists said that travelers provide an economic and tax boost to cities without using services, like schools. ‘They come, spend and leave,’ said Angelos Angelou, president of an economic-impact research firm that has produced reports for events and conferences like South by Southwest and Lollapalooza. ‘It’s the kind of economic bonanza that any type of city would love to have.’”

​�ċ�ċ�ċ�ċ�ċ�ċBetting big: Some municipalities are so sure the recovery is permanent that they’ve invested in new conference facilities.

• Seattle recently opened a $2 billion addition to its convention center, and last November, Dallas voters approved their own convention-center expansion—with a price tag of $4 billion—to be funded through hotel taxes.

More small businesses are pulling back on hiring, (subscription) reports.

What’s going on: “The portion of small-business owners who expect to expand their workforce over the next year was below 50% for the second month in a row in May, hitting the lowest level since June 2020, during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a recent survey conducted for The Wall Street Journal.”

• Even as the economy shows signs of a slowdown, applicant pay expectations remain high—but small-business owners are “less willing to pay up for talent” as they respond to belt tightening by their customers.

The data: In March, U.S. job openings fell to their lowest level in almost two years, and the number of layoffs increased.

• However, employers added 253,000 jobs in April, mostly on the strength of service-sector gains.

What it means: “‘There is no question that CEOs are downshifting into a slowing economy,’ said Vistage chief research officer Joe Galvin. Despite caution about adding additional workers, ‘no one is willing to shed the hard-earned and expensive employees they hired,’ Mr. Galvin said. Entrepreneurs often still struggle to fill openings when workers leave, he added.”

U.S. natural gas production is likely to keep growing through 2050, while LNG exports will take off, according to new forecasts from the Energy Information Association.

The gist: Natural gas production is predicted to increase 15%, while LNG exports will skyrocket 152% between last year and 2050, according to the EIA’s “.”

• “Production growth is largely driven by U.S. LNG exports, which we expect to rise to 10 [trillion cubic feet] by 2050,” an EIA blog post .

Where it’s happening: “Natural gas production growth on the Gulf Coast and in the Southwest reflects increased activity in the Haynesville Formation and Permian Basin, which are close to infrastructure connecting natural gas supply to growing LNG export facilities.”

• “New liquefaction facilities in Louisiana became fully operational in 2022, ahead of schedule. In addition, new LNG trains in Texas are scheduled to be online by 2025.”

How they figured it out: This projection comes from the “reference case” in the outlook report for 2023.

• “We use different scenarios, called cases, to understand how varying assumptions affect energy trends. The AEO2023 Reference case, which serves as a baseline, or benchmark, reflects laws and regulations adopted through mid-November 2022, including the Inflation Reduction Act,” according to the EIA blog.