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Walmart is taking further action in an attempt to boost U.S. manufacturing. In 2013, the company committed to sourcing an additional $250 billion over the course of a ten-year period on products that support American jobs.
On Wednesday, the retail giant presented its “Policy Roadmap to Renew U.S. Manufacturing,” a report on the challenges facing the U.S. manufacturing industry.
The analysis, conducted by The Boston Consulting Group, included feedback from bipartisan representatives from government, business, and non-governmental organizations from across the country. The report says that the four highest impact policy barriers which constrain the growth of U.S. manufacturing include:
- Workforce
- Coordination & Financing
- Regulation
- Tax & Trade
To address the growth barriers, the report identifies 10 “policy levers” or specific actions that industry leaders and policymakers can take in order to renew U.S. manufacturing. The 10 specific actions include:
- Build vocational training programs linked to local industry.
- Reduce financial burden on private industry to train and up the skills of workers.
- Rebrand U.S. manufacturing to attract new workers and drive demand of domestic products.
- Encourage growth of component production to help close supply chain gaps.
- Facilitate public-private cooperation to promote manufacturing clusters.
- Harmonize manufacturing regulations across different levels of government, including eliminating
federal overlap. - Streamline compliance requirements for criticality and business size.
- Create globally competitive tax environment, including lower rates and a territorial system.
- Expand and protect targeted state and local tax deductions that foster manufacturing
investments. - Modernize trade agreements to enhance U.S. manufacturing competitiveness.
By taking these actions, the analysis says that domestic manufacturing stands to recapture approximately $300 billion in consumer goods that are currently imported, and create as many as 1.5 million American jobs.