U.S. Senate Must Approve Important Tax Bill To Keep U.S. Metals Industry Competitive

Legislation to restore the deduction for domestic research and development (R&D) expenses, along with other key business tax provisions, has been waiting for a vote in the U.S. Senate for months.

The Metals Service Center Institute (MSCI) strongly supports this bill since passage of it is necessary to ensure the U.S. manufacturing and industrial metals industries can remain on a level playing field with their competitors from around the world. Indeed, as the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM) has noted, “without tax policies that encourage R&D and capital investment, countries with more favorable tax systems are capturing job-creating manufacturing investments.” China, for example, provides a 200 percent deduction for R&D expenses, a figure that is ten times more generous than the United States’ current amortization requirement, and in 2022 — the first full year after immediate R&D expensing expired in the United States — China’s R&D growth was triple the U.S. growth rate. That same year, the European Union’s R&D growth surpassed the United States for the first time in nearly a decade.

In an attempt to pry the legislation loose, MSCI continues to ask that its member company employees and leaders to write or call their senators to ask that they support this legislation and demand leaders schedule a vote on it. (More information on how to do so is at the bottom of this story.)

As a reminder, this legislation would:

• Restore immediate R&D expensing;
• Return to a pro-growth interest deductibility standard; and
• Reinstate full expensing, also known as 100 percent accelerated depreciation, for businesses’ capital investments.

This tax relief is retroactive and stretches back to tax years starting in 2022, meaning that if this legislation is approved, many businesses would be able to claw back some taxes levied in prior years.

That relief is needed for the industrial metals industry to continue to expand. An overwhelming majority, 89 percent, of respondents to the NAM fourth quarter 2023 Manufacturers’ Outlook Survey said higher tax burdens make it more difficult for them to hire, buy new equipment, and expand their facilities. The tax bill that is stuck in the Senate would enable manufacturers and metals companies to invest in their businesses, create jobs, and compete in the global marketplace.

The tax bill is particularly important for small and medium-sized manufacturers and metals firms, many of which experienced significant tax increases as a result of the expiration of the three provisions outlined above.

Getting this legislation to President Joe Biden’s desk would be a huge victory for the industrial metals industry, and we need to make our voices heard. MSCI member companies and their allies were critical in bringing lawmakers from both sides of the aisle together to make House passage of this bill possible. Industrial metals leaders and employees should call on members of the U.S. Senate to quickly approve this important legislation. You can use resources at NAM’s Tax Action Center, available at this link, to tell your senators to support this legislation.