Administration of Donald J. Trump, 2017

Remarks on Signing a Proclamation on National Manufacturing Day and an Exchange With Reporters

October 6, 2017

The President. Thank you very much. It's an honor to be here with the great men and women of American manufacturing. In a few moments, I will sign a Presidential proclamation declaring today National Manufacturing Day.

From the founding of our Nation—from Washington to Jefferson, from Jackson to McKinley—our Nation has long understood that our strength as a country depends upon the strength of our domestic industry. We're all better off when we make, buy, and sell more products made in the U.S.A. And that's what's happening in our country, and you see it. And the levels of enthusiasm are incredible.

Today, and in coming weeks, manufacturers in all 50 States will hold events to encourage more Americans to pursue a career in high-tech and the high-tech world of modern manufacturing. My administration strongly supports that goal, and we've been supporting it for a long time. And it's really, now, starting to pay off, as everybody behind me knows. And that's why I've asked members of my Cabinet to travel across the country, share our message, and meet with the workers. And they are hard workers.

We've also already created tens of thousands of new manufacturing jobs. Plants and companies are coming back into our country. You see it with announcements now from automobile companies to every kind of company. They're coming back in, and perhaps even more importantly, they don't want to leave anymore because they know they're leaving a very good thing. So we're creating thousands more jobs.

And if Congress acts on our historic tax cut—the largest in the history of our country—and also tax reform and that framework that we've put forward, it will be even more so. Under the current law, products made in America are taxed at a marginal rate of 35 percent and, really, sometimes much higher than that, putting our manufacturers at a tremendous disadvantage to the manufacturers in other countries. We want to dramatically reduce the tax on American manufacturers so that we can compete and win on the world stage.

And I will tell you, the receptivity to what we're proposing is fantastic. We're keeping our companies, and the companies are coming back in. And perhaps, most importantly, we're making our workers happy, and they love to work.

So I want to thank everybody for being here. And maybe a couple of folks behind me would want to say a few words. Would you like to say something?

Marlin Steel Wire Products, LLC, Special Projects Manager Molly Flax. Sure. I'd like to thank you, Mr. President, and your administration for taking on the 300,000 regulations. It's going to make it easier for us to do our jobs, make us more competitive, and that's—be wonderful too.

The President. That's very great. You bring up a very good point. We've cut regulations more than any administration there is. We have—nobody is even close, and we're talking about, in 10 months, we've cut more regulations than any President, any administration, and we have a long way to go. We're cutting down so that highways don't take 20 years to build and other things don't take decades and decades and then find out, in many cases after going through the process, that they can't build it anyway. So we've cut regulations more than has ever been cut before. And we are continuing.

At the same time, I like regulation. It's fine. We want clean air. We want crystal-clear water. What we want also is we want safety. But there's a point at which we have to take care of our country, and we have to take care of our workers and our companies. So we're very honored, and that's a great point that you bring up with regulations. Thank you very much.

Anybody else? Anybody? Yes.

Eagle Manufacturing Co. Marketing Manager and Corporate Officer Ingrid Loy. Thank you so much, one, for having us here. And thank you for all the support that you've been giving to manufacturing. According to a recent survey with NAM, two-thirds of manufacturing feel that this tax reform is going to help us hire more people; it's going to help us get more machinery, get more equipment in our factories. And on behalf of my company, and I know all the manufacturing—just thank you.

The President. Thank you very much. That's very nice. That's really nice. Anybody else want to say anything? Anybody? You'll become very famous if you do. [Laughter] Well, I want to thank you all very much. Very much.

National Associations of Manufacturers President and Chief Executive Officer Jay Timmons. Mr. President? Mr. President, can I——

The President. Yes, Jay. Jay Timmons.

Mr. Timmons. We just released our quarterly survey that we conduct with all 14,000 of our members across the country. This is the third quarter where we've seen record optimism by manufacturers. So the three-quarter average is the highest—of 90 percent—in the entire 20-year history of our survey.

And, Mr. President, that is because manufacturers are saying that they believe that tax reform, regulatory relief, infrastructure investment are the keys to making sure that the manufacturing sector is growing and strong and ensuring our exceptional America. So thank you on behalf of all manufacturers for doing exactly that.

The President. Well, thank you, Jay. That's very nice. I knew about the survey. I didn't want to bring it up. [Laughter] Because they would say I'm braggadocious if I did that.

Mr. Timmons. I'll say it again—90 percent. [Laughter]

The President. Thank you, Jay. That's great. Thank you very much.

Okay. So this is our proclamation, and this in honor of our great National Manufacturing Day.

Mr. Timmons. Yes, sir.

The President. And the tremendous success we've been having, especially over the last 9 months. There's—makes a big difference.

Mr. Timmons. We have 3,000 events across the country. You mentioned your Cabinet Secretaries are out——

The President. That's right. Mr. Timmons. ——celebrating manufacturing with manufacturers, and some of these facilities as well. About 600,000 students and teachers and community leaders will be participating so they can learn all the great things there are to learn about modern manufacturing. And we're hopeful that many of them will join these fine people in the manufacturing industry.

The President. And they will be. It's happening. Thank you very much, Jay. Appreciate it.

[At this point, the President signed the proclamation.]

The President. So the big question is: Who gets the pen? What do you think? Should we do a—Jay? Maybe Jay Timmons?

Mr. Timmons. You've got a—you saw a hand outstretched. [Laughter]

The President. Oh, good. Come on.

Marlin Steel Wire Products, LLC, Computer Numerical Control Manager Nathan Myers. Okay. Thank you, Mr. President.

The President. Thank you very much, everybody. Thank you.

The President's Remarks to Reporters During a Photo Opportunity With Military Leaders and Their Spouses

Q. Mr. President, what did you mean by "calm before the storm" yesterday? What did you mean by that?

The President. Thank you very much. You'll find out. [Laughter]

Q. Do you mean something other than military action, sir?

The President. We'll see. Thank you, everybody.

NOTE: The President spoke at 2:05 p.m. in the Oval Office at the White House.

Categories: Addresses and Remarks : National Manufacturing Day, signing the proclamation; Interviews With the News Media : Exchanges with reporters :: White House.

Locations: Washington, DC.

Names: Flax, Molly; Loy, Ingrid; Myers, Nathan; Timmons, Jay.

Subjects: Business and industry : Domestic investment, promotion efforts; Business and industry : Global competitiveness; Business and industry : Manufacturing industry :: Strengthening efforts; Employment and unemployment : Job creation and growth; Government organization and employees : Federal regulations, review; Holidays and special observances : National Manufacturing Day; Taxation : Tax Code, reform.

DCPD Number: DCPD201700727.