Tax Policy and U.S. Manufacturing in a Global Economy

In his 2013 State of the Union address, President Obama stated “Our first priority is making America a magnet for new jobs and manufacturing.” His “Framework for Business Tax Reform” would support this priority by focusing and deepening the existing tax deduction for domestic manufacturing activities. Others, including Senator Orrin Hatch, ranking minority member of the Finance Committee, are cool to the idea, saying, “We’re starting to come back in manufacturing, and I don’t think you need the government to show the way for them.”

On March 15, the Urban-BrookingsTax Policy Center and the International Tax Policy Forum hosted a conference to assess the current state of U.S. manufacturing, its contribution to U.S. economic growth, and whether tax reform should maintain, deepen, or eliminate preferential income tax treatment of manufacturing income.

Brookings Co-Director of the Tax Policy Center William Gale gave introductory remarks and moderated the first panel with Brookings Director of the Initiative on Business and Public Policy Martin Baily, and Tax Policy Center Director Donald Marron served as a panelist. Former member of the Council of Economic Advisers Laura D’Andrea Tyson delivered the keynote address. After each panel, speakers took questions from the audience.