News

AEM eyes bipartisan policies that support economic growth in the industry

The Association of Equipment Manufacturers is calling for bipartisan policies that support long-term economic growth in the industry.  

Kip Eideberg, senior vice president of government and industry relations, says the infrastructure law is a good start.

“We are urging our elected officials to invest in our nation’s infrastructure. That means the rapid implementation of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act,” he says. “Rural broadband, large capital investments in our core infrastructure assets – roads, bridges, ports, and airports.”  

He says workforce, which is another priority, is needed to take advantage of infrastructure investments.

“Creating more jobs is what our industry is ultimately all about, but if we don’t have that pipeline of skilled workers to fill those jobs, those family-sustaining jobs, we can’t take advantage of the historic investment in infrastructure and economic growth,” he says.

AEM President Megan Tanel says it will be critical to work between both federal and state governments.

“The money can be there from a federal perspective but unless the states are aware of what they can do and how they can bring some of that funding in, whether it’s to improve broadband, roadways, bridges, or to encourage so many students out there that there are really good paying jobs in these industries, we’re going to have a disconnect,” she says. “We need federal and state to work together and we would put our names at the table to support and work with federal and state governments to make some of these initiatives happen.”  

Taxes and trade is also top of mind.

Eideberg says, “maintaining a competitive tax environment that helps enable that economic recovery but also allows us to compete on a level playing field in the global economy. Speaking to that, ensuring that we have not just free but fair trade…that ultimately means removing harmful barriers to trade, including Section 232 and Section 301 tariffs. Finally, we need to address China’s industrial and trade policy, which has ultimately done a lot of harm to our industry and the global economy overall.”

AEM hosted a State of the Industry briefing with media today.