Highlights
The Trump administration has the stated policy objectives to make America a safer, stronger, more prosperous nation by reshoring domestic production and manufacturing. This stands in sharp contrast to the last administration, whose environmental rules and policies on chemical production threatened the existence of domestic manufacturers and forced countless public and private entities who rely on these inputs to acquire them overseas.
In just four years, the Biden administration imposed $1.8 trillion in new regulatory burdens, nearly twice the amount the Obama administration imposed in two terms. Chief among these regulatory burdens was the Biden EPA’s broad and overreaching interpretation of the phrase “unreasonable risk” found in the amended Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The actions of these unelected bureaucrats threatened to massively expand the government’s ability to effectively ban the safe production and use of chemicals needed to grow our economy and power our future.
The applications for these chemicals are limitless. From cell phones to EV batteries to semiconductors to protective skin for airplanes to safer gasoline refining processes, chemicals are critical to our modern way of life.
A de facto ban placed on manufacturing these inputs here at home would harm important US industries and our national security. It would not only stifle innovation and threaten critical supply chains, but it would also force American companies that rely on these chemicals to source them outside the US, including from foreign adversaries like China.
Just last month, a NASA official remarked that even though their agency has secured national security and critical use exemptions under TSCA, they are still vulnerable to supply chain constraints should a domestic chemical manufacturer stop or offshore production if uses are banned. “Manufacturers are likely to exit the market or move overseas. NASA might be using a gallon of a material over 10 years–companies aren’t going to stay in business to provide us a gallon,” said Tim Appleman, chemical and risk management program manager at NASA.
The new administration must ensure that the vital domestic chemical industry can continue to harness our country’s competitive advantage and ability to innovate. Returning to the appropriate balance between production safety and economic growth should be at the forefront of policy measures that keep manufacturing where it belongs – right here in America.