Administration To Examine U.S. Manufacturing Competitiveness

ByDavid Drickhamer The U.S. Department of Commerce announced March 5 that it has launched a special study of the issues influencing the long-term competitiveness of U.S. manufacturing. "Our goal is to identify the challenges facing American manufacturing and outline a strategy for ensuring that the government is doing all it can to create the conditions that will allow you to maximize your competitiveness and spur economic growth," said Commerce Secretary Don Evans at National Manufacturing Week in Chicago. The administration's effort follows a similar push by the National Association of Manufacturers, Washington, D.C. As Richard Dauch, CEO of American Axle & Manufacturing Inc. and chairman of NAM's research organization, stated in remarks made in Chicago this week, the NAM effort will stress "the need for broader public awareness of the centrality of manufacturing, the pro-growth policies needed to maintain it, and the nature and magnitude of the challenges facing it." Evans expects to review the findings of the initiative, which is being spearheaded by Commerce Department Undersecretary for Trade Grant Aldonas, by mid-summer.