White House Puts Out Its Plan for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing
I know we say this a lot, but there’s a lot going on these days.
So, we wouldn’t blame you if you missed this piece of news: Earlier this month, the Trump administration officially unveiled its strategy for strengthening American leadership in advanced manufacturing.
Put together by the National Science and Technology Council Subcommittee on Advanced Manufacturing, the 40-page strategy document focuses on three key goals: the development and transition of new manufacturing technologies, the education and training of the manufacturing workforce, and the expansion of domestic manufacturing across the supply chain.
Strategic objectives for achieving each goal are included in the report, along with specific outcomes that are designed to be accomplished within four years. The plan received input from across the federal government, and many federal agencies are tasked with helping to achieve the objectives.
For example, the strategy includes priorities like expanding apprenticeships and career and technical education pathways; properly enforcing Buy American policies; and recognizing the role of programs like Manufacturing USA and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership in stimulating innovation and supporting small and mid-sized manufacturers.
And although it’s a product of the Trump administration, the new strategy began long before The Donald even came on the D.C. scene, when Congress passed the American Manufacturing Competitiveness Act back in 2014.
Introduced by Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), the measure directed the president to publish a manufacturing strategy, and the congressman seemed pretty psyched to see things coming to fruition:
“I am hopeful that this is a watershed moment for American manufacturing and leads to better policies which will help grow manufacturing jobs for years to come. I’m looking forward to learning more about how the administration plans to implement their manufacturing strategy through their budget and other legislation.”
Lipinski’s office gathered some feedback on the new strategy from some local manufacturers in the congressman’s district, including Bill Hickey, the chairman of the Lapham-Hickey Steel Corporation, who called the report a “must-read for all Americans.”
Our own President Scott Paul also weighed in, noting that the report highlights “the importance of manufacturing to the economic well-being of our families, communities, and nation.”
But the ultimate judge of the strategy’s success, of course, will be its implementation.
It will be up to Congress and the administration to work together to fund and effectively enact the ideas included in it. As recent polling shows, Americans are behind a lot of the ideas in the strategy — now it’s on Washington to get the job done.
Read the full Strategy for American Leadership in Advanced Manufacturing.
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Reposted from AAM
