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Manufacturing Associations Urge Biden Administration Action on Supply Chain Challenges


WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, a coalition of four major manufacturing associations – the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM), the Air-Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI), the North American Association of Food Equipment Manufacturers (NAFEM) and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) – are urging immediate action by the Biden administration to address supply chain challenges outlined in a newly released white paper.

The paper follows a series of meetings among coalition members and Capitol Hill and administration staff centered around issues important to the coalition’s member companies, such as the Section 301 China tariffs, Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, supply chain concerns, labor shortages, increased costs for shipping containers and increased shipping times, and semiconductor shortages. The paper explains how supply chain disruptions, which are compounded by trade distortions and the COVID-19 pandemic, are hurting the competitiveness of U.S. manufacturers and stalling the U.S. economic recovery. Combined with increased demand for appliances and equipment, supply chain bottlenecks have negative consequences, including increased costs, lost sales, delayed deliveries of critical products to consumers in the face of supply chain backlogs, and even shutting down manufacturing plants.

The paper acknowledges that many supply chain issues will require long-term solutions, but the coalition also requested immediate relief from policymakers through tariff removal and fair allocation of semiconductors to all industries. Quick implementation of these and other policy solutions outlined in the paper may help prevent a continued worsening of the availability of manufactured products in the U.S., while increasing productivity and stemming product cost inflation.

President and CEO of AHAM, Joe McGuire,  also released a statement: “The ability to produce and deliver home appliances to consumers has been dramatically hindered by the COVID-19 pandemic and other supply-related issues, creating hardships for consumers and for businesses at every step in the supply chain. The result is ongoing shortages of products, materials, components and labor, leading to delays and increased costs. In some cases the supply chain timeline has doubled or tripled.  This is at a time when consumers are spending more time in their homes and more dependent than ever on home appliances to keep their families healthy and their homes clean.  The home appliance industry joins with other critical parts of the manufacturing sector to urge the Biden administration and congress to act to help alleviate this unprecedented damage to the global product supply chain.”
 
 

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The Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) is the trade association representing manufacturers of major, portable and floor care home appliances and suppliers to the industry. AHAM is headquartered in Washington, D.C. and maintains an office in Ottawa. AHAM is the single voice providing the home appliance industry and its customers leadership, advocacy and a forum for action — developing and implementing credible solutions for public policy, standards and business decisions. You can visit AHAM’s web site at http://www.aham.org or follow us on Twitter @AHAM_Voice and @AHAM_Policy.