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The debt ceiling bill finalized on Sunday—and set to go to a vote in the House this evening—includes meaningful permitting reform measures, according to (subscription).

What’s going on: The legislation would approve the Mountain Valley pipeline and enact changes to the National Environmental Policy Act.

• In addition, “a one-year deadline would be placed on the production of environmental impact assessments for new energy projects seeking permits. A two-year maximum would be applied for environmental impact statements.”
• “The agreement would also expand an existing program to expedite federal permitting for infrastructure projects, known as Fast-41.”
• And last, though the bill will not include provisions for a large-scale transmission buildup, it will call for a study of grid challenges and recommendations that might fix them.

The 51�Թ��� says: 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons commended policymakers on reaching an agreement:

• “Manufacturers have been a leading voice for permitting reform, so we are encouraged that this legislation takes critical steps to improve our broken permitting system, helping us more fully leverage our domestic energy sources and expand manufacturing in the United States.”
• “We will work with Congress and the administration to build on this progress and create a comprehensive bipartisan permitting reform package that also helps unlock the full potential of laws meant to encourage the growth of manufacturing in America, such as the historic infrastructure law and the CHIPS and Science Act.”

The bigger bill: In case you missed it, the debt legislation as a whole would suspend the borrowing limit for the next two years, while also making some spending cuts, according to (subscription).

• “It would cut spending on domestic priorities favored by Democrats while boosting military spending by about 3%. It also would extend limits on food assistance to some beneficiaries to prod them to find jobs.”

51�Թ��� in the news: Timmons’ statements on the debt-limit agreement were picked up by and .

In its Sackett v. EPA ruling yesterday, the Supreme Court handed a victory to congressional Republicans and others who believe the Biden administration’s revised Waters of the United States rule is overly broad, according to E&E News’ (subscription).

What’s going on: By unanimous vote, “the court found that EPA and the Army Corps of Engineers wrongfully claimed oversight of the wetland on the Sacketts’ property—located about 300 feet from Idaho’s Priest Lake—and that federal courts had erred in affirming the agencies’ jurisdiction.”

• “The ruling could complicate the Biden administration’s legal defense of its new definition of which wetlands and streams qualify as ‘waters of the U.S.,’ or WOTUS, subject to Clean Water Act permitting.”
• The Sacketts have been prohibited from building on their property for more than 15 years because of the wetlands designation and oversight claims.

Why it’s important: The decision—in which “[t]he court said the EPA can only assert jurisdiction over wetlands that have continuous surface connection to navigable waters, rejecting a more expansive view proposed by the EPA,” according to (subscription)—will give much-needed regulatory certainty to manufacturers, which have been caught in limbo over the unclear and changing WOTUS definition.

The 51�Թ��� says: The court’s ruling “put[s] us on a path to regulatory certainty for manufacturers across the country,” 51�Թ��� Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Brandon Farris said.

• “This case demonstrates yet again why manufacturers and our economy need a sensible Waters of the United States proposal that provides clarity and certainty and allows the industry to continue leading the way on environmental protection. The EPA should heed the court’s ruling and revise its latest WOTUS proposal.”

When service members leave the military, manufacturers are quick to say: “Come on over!” Military skills are usually a great match for manufacturing careers, which require attention to detail, technical abilities and creative thinking. And there’s no better matchmaker than the Manufacturing Institute’s initiative, which since 2018 has been offering training certification programs and career courses to transitioning service members and veterans.

Today, HMA not only serves service members on military installations across the country but also has expanded its reach via a virtual training program.

Widening the reach: Now in its second year, the virtual training program has allowed HMA to impact service members on a national scale.

• For the first time, members from four branches—Army, Air Force, Marine Corps and Navy—are participating in the same class at the same time.
• Additionally, the geographic range of participants has increased to comprise students located far and wide, including in Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Kansas and Kentucky.
• The program has reached more than 120,000 prospective students through local transition assistance, HMA’s and presence and the ���ɱ�������ٱ�.

How it works: HMA partnered with Texas State Technical College to create a virtual nine-week training and certification program.

• Participants earn nationally portable, industry-recognized certification as well as an OSHA 10 certification.
• Through , HMA also partners with sponsors like Johnson & Johnson, The Caterpillar Foundation, Amazon, Howmet Aerospace, WestRock, Saint-Gobain, Atlas Copco, Cargill, FUCHS Lubricants Company, C.H. Guenther & Sons, Honda Foundation, Niagara Bottling and the NAFEM, PPI and SEMI associations to connect program graduates and members of the military community with manufacturers.

Read the full story .

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo met with Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao Thursday evening to talk “trade, investment and export policies” in the first Cabinet-level discussion between the two nations in months, reports.

What happened: The officials “had candid and substantive discussions on issues relating to the U.S.–China commercial relationship, including the overall environment in both countries for trade and investment and areas for potential cooperation,” the Commerce Department announced in a of the sit-down.

• “Secretary Raimondo also raised concerns about the recent spate of [People’s Republic of China] actions taken against U.S. companies operating in the PRC,” including an uptick in investigations against these companies’ China operations.
• Wang—who is also confirmed to meet today with U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai—voiced concerns over some of the Biden administration’s China policies, “including on semiconductors, export controls and reviews of foreign investments, a Chinese Commerce Ministry statement said,” according to Reuters.
• Both meetings are taking place on the sidelines of organization happening this week in Detroit.

What they agreed: Raimondo and Wang said they would begin and maintain open communication, which China’s Commerce Ministry said would let the two countries discuss specific trade and cooperation matters.

Additional background: Earlier this week, Wang met with U.S. firms, with whom he stressed “the importance of the China market for American companies,” reports the (subscription).

Why it’s important: Thursday’s Raimondo–Wang exchange comes after President Biden and other G7 leaders “said they would ‘ without ‘decoupling’ from the world’s second-largest economy in everything from chips to minerals,” according to Reuters.

China, which already commands most of the world’s lithium refining, is undertaking “a risky strategy” in an effort to lay claim to more of the metal globally: buying stakes in mines located in developing nations, according to (subscription).

What’s going on: “China is spending billions on stakes in nations that have histories of political instability, local resistance and resource nationalism. Projects often face protests, regulatory delays and even cancellations. If China succeeds, however, it could secure access to one-third of the world’s lithium-mine production capacity needed by 2025, according to industry estimates.”

• Canada and Australia, which hold among the world’s largest lithium reserves, recently put an end to new Chinese investments in critical minerals.

Why it’s important: Lithium is a critical component of batteries used in electric vehicles and smartphones—and demand for the mineral could outstrip supply significantly by the end of the decade.

A precarious investment: To ensure sufficient lithium stock to power its EV industry (particularly as tensions with the U.S. rise), China has acquired stakes in close to 20 mines throughout Latin America and Africa.

• Some of the countries in which the mines sit face the risk of terrorist attacks, while others have a history of revoking agreements made with foreign firms.

However … China has some advantages over Western nations when it comes to securing lithium from South American and African nations.

• “CATL, for example, is a battery behemoth, with the political backing of Beijing and a strong network of companies along the supply chain.
• Developing nations often want to partner with Chinese firms that also do processing, refining or battery making, because they believe such companies will better guarantee them steady streams of income. ​​​​​​​

A power line and wind farm project first conceived in 2006 finally received a critical permit this month—a perfect example of why we need permitting reform, according to (subscription).

What’s going on: “The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management gave the green light [last] Thursday for a high-voltage power line [in the SunZia project]. The permit allows the developer, Pattern Energy, to build the country’s largest wind energy project across three counties in rural New Mexico and deliver that electricity to large markets in Arizona and California.”

• Developers applied for federal approval in 2008, and the Obama administration “fast-tracked” the project four years later.
• Pattern Energy plans to start construction later this year.

Why it’s important: SunZia is emblematic of a flawed system, one which President Biden and legislators are now trying to fix, according to the Journal.

• “The labyrinthine state, local and federal permitting processes are often drawn out for years, require duplicative paperwork and generate thousands of pages of government analysis. The average federal environmental review, for example, takes 4½ years, according to a 2020 White House report.”
• Earlier this month, the White House recommended changes it said would help speed the approval of transmission projects.

What they’re saying: “‘The White House doesn’t have a prayer of implementing the infrastructure bill or the [Inflation Reduction Act] without permitting reform,’ said Rep. Garret Graves (R., La.), a lead Republican negotiator in the debt-ceiling talks. ‘And anyone who’s actually out there trying to build things will tell you that.’”

What we’re doing: The 51�Թ��� has been one of the foremost voices urging permitting reform on Capitol Hill.

• 51�Թ��� President and CEO Jay Timmons recently testified before Congress on the topic and manufacturing priorities for overhauling the permitting process.
• At another recent congressional hearing, 51�Թ��� Vice President of Energy and Resources Policy Brandon Farris legislators, “Streamlining and modernizing our nation’s permitting laws and procedures will help us advance many of our nation’s shared priorities, improving the quality of life for all communities; modernizing our infrastructure; achieving energy security; ramping up critical mineral production; enhancing manufacturing competitiveness; and creating manufacturing jobs in the U.S.”

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.”