President Trump on May 10 made good on his decision to increase tariffs from 10% to 20% on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, following setbacks in ongoing negotiations between the U.S. and China. The new tariffs are expected to be met with retaliatory measures from China.

Metalcasters have significant opportunities in the next few weeks to educate congressional lawmakers about the importance of the industry.

These opportunities are Congressional recesses, April 15-27 and May 27-31, when representatives and senators are back in their states and districts, as well as during the June AFS Government Affairs Fly-In in Washington, D.C.

The American Foundry Society (AFS) opposes a Treasury Department proposal that would make it more expensive for manufacturers, including metalcasters, to finance the purchase of depreciable equipment by limiting interest deductions four years earlier than Congress intended.

Speaking up for the industry, AFS signed a coalition letter, organized by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), urging Treasury officials to reverse the proposed rule.

President Trump signed an executive order on Jan. 31, 2019, to encourage federal agencies to require the use of more American-made products in infrastructure projects they help finance. The order directs federal agencies to encourage recipients of loans, loan guarantees, grants and interest subsidies to meet Buy American requirements for iron, steel, aluminum, cement and other products in their projects.

On Jan. 22, 2019, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) released a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) concerning the agency’s final rule regulating occupational exposure to respirable crystalline silica in general industry.

WASHINGTON, D.C.  — Today, American Foundry Society CEO Doug Kurkul, AFS President Jean Bye, and Eric Meyers, chairman of the AFS Government Affairs Committee, welcomed the newly convened 116th Congress. 

“AFS looks forward to working with lawmakers to address important metalcasting legislative and regulatory issues in the coming year,” Kurkul said. “It’s important that both new and returning members of Congress understand and appreciate the unique value of the metalcasting industry to manufacturing and the U.S. economy.”

The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers unveiled their replacement to the Obama-era 2015 Waters of the U.S. (WOTUS) Rule.

The proposed new rule appears to provide a much more reasonable approach to the limits of Clean Water Act jurisdiction for waters of the U.S.  However, AFS said the details of the new rule require careful review to determine how it will impact metalcasting operations.