The American Foundry Society, the voice of the North American metalcasting industry, has announced its policy priorities for 2022. As the only association advocating full-time for the $44 billion metalcasting economy, AFS’s policy positions support the strength of the industry, the hundreds of thousands of U.S. jobs it creates, and the tens of billions of dollars in economic impact it produces.
AFS’s top policy issues for 2022 were developed in consultation with the AFS Government Affairs Committee and member companies spanning the entire industry value chain. “These pro-metalcasting policy priorities will act as our roadmap for discussions with policymakers over the coming year,” said Doug Kurkul, AFS CEO.
AFS is working aggressively with Congress and the administration for pro-growth, job-creating, balanced regulatory policies to ensure the long-term viability of metalcasting. For 2022, AFS is advocating for commonsense policies in the following key areas:
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Supply Chain – Build resiliency and sustainability in domestic and international supply chains. This is of paramount importance for the U.S. metalcasting industry, its suppliers, and customers. The ongoing supply crunch for semiconductor chips has hurt production across sectors supplied by the foundry industry, including automobiles, tractors, machinery, airplanes, defense equipment, and consumer appliances.
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Infrastructure Investment – Swiftly provide the funding to states and localities to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure, including expediting the federal permitting process.
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Tax – Refrain from raising taxes on manufacturers and maintain immediate deduction of R&D activities, which will no longer be immediately deductible; instead, the costs will be capitalized and amortized over 5 or 15 years.
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Environment – Metalcasters are committed to environmental quality and invest tens of millions of dollars in equipment and processes. Durable and infinitely recyclable, metal castings play an important role in global energy and climate challenges. The industry is continuously innovating to reduce energy use and carbon impact.
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Trade – Support a fair playing field for metalcasters and our customers to compete in the global marketplace, including vigorous enforcement of U.S. trade laws and international trade agreements.
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Workforce Development – Shortage of workers hampers foundries. Invest in the next generation of skilled, technical workers.
To read the full American Foundry Society 2022 Federal Priority Issues document, click here.
Metalcasters have an opportunity to meet with their lawmakers in Washington, D.C. at the industry’s in-person Government Affairs Fly-In on June 7-8, 2022. Plan to join us in D.C. for this important meeting.