Despite uncertainties with the Trump Administration, the good news is that “manufacturing is a popular word again,” the Industrial Fastener Institute’s lobbyist told the Fastener Industry Summit.

“U.S. manufacturing is at the forefront of Administration rhetoric,” observed Jennifer Baker Reid of the Laurin Baker Group LLC.

However, any “Buy American” policies will affect only new federal government contracts and not “private parties” contracts, Reid pointed out.

“Each new administration always brings uncertainty for 30 to 60 days,” Reid explained. The Trump Administration’s uncertainty continues as it “lurks from one crisis to another,” Reid added. It is beginning to seem like the “new normal.”

Indeed Reid left a space open on her opening screen for “the crisis of the day or week.”

Reid attributed part of the problem because Donald Trump “doesn’t let go” of issues, such as his inauguration crowd size.

“The administration still doesn’t seem to be steady at the helm yet,” she observed.

Republican leaders are talking about “running government like a business,” but the goal is tough because “you can’t turn the Titanic around overnight,” Reid noted.

Vice President Mike Pence – who was a congressman before being governor of Indiana – “is walking a very fine line” between supporting Trump and “responsibilities on Capitol Hill.”

The White House budget is “always DOA” upon arriving on Capitol Hill, Reid noted. The latest budget includes “draconian cuts to (Trump’s) base,” she pointed out.

The House of Representatives is four months behind its process for budget approval by September 30 and Congress faces raising the debt ceiling probably by the end of July 2017.

In 2001, the U.S. steel industry may have needed tariffs, but today any legislation needs to be “specific,” such as not including Canada.

“We in the fastener industry need a healthy steel industry,” and a “broad brush approach really has potential to disrupt the supply chain” with “unintended consequences,” Reid said.

For example, a rule requiring only U.S. produced steel is too late for the pipelines under construction because the pipes are already in storage ready for installation.

• Republicans’ HR 1628 to repeal Obamacare can only be done for a 10-year period in order to be passed by 51 votes in the Senate for “reconciliation” majority – avoiding potential filibuster.

Consequently the insurance markets are “very unstable.”

• Tax reform may be dead. The ten-year rule applies to this too and thus the Bush-era tax cuts are expiring.

• Any Border Adjustment Tax faces international trade rules conflicts. Among the companies changes could affect are giant names such as Boeing and Caterpillar.

Border taxes could lead to consumer price increase, Reid cautioned.

President Trump has vowed “all legal routes” to levy unilateral sanctions on imports against China, she said.

• Infrastructure projects may require public / private partnerships.

• Even if Congress repeals the Conflict Minerals section of Dodd-Frank, manufacturers supplying Europe will still have to comply with their rules. Web: TheLaurinBakerGroup.com