The 2.3 million men and women of the equipment manufacturing industry make the equipment that builds, powers, and feeds the world. Everywhere you look, equipment manufacturers are keeping people and critical goods moving and powering vital public services and utilities.
America faces economic, political, and global challenges that we will only meet by working together. Equipment manufacturers stand ready to work with policymakers on both sides of the aisle to advance bipartisan, commonsense solutions to America’s toughest challenges.
AEM shapes policy at the state, federal, and international levels to ensure that equipment manufacturers can continue to invest in their communities, grow their businesses, and hire more Americans. The 2025 policy agenda includes key policy priorities to strengthen the U.S. economy and move the industry forward.
- Infrastructure: AEM calls on policymakers to modernize roads, bridges, water systems, and electric grids to meet the needs of a 21st-century economy. Sustainable, long-term infrastructure investments will create jobs, spur growth, and keep the U.S. globally competitive.
- Rural America: A strong farm economy supports the 650,000 agriculture equipment manufacturing jobs in the U.S. AEM urges lawmakers to pass policies that enhance broadband access, promote biofuels, and strengthen the farm safety net to support America’s rural communities.
- Tax: A competitive tax system fuels long-term industry growth. AEM advocates for keeping the corporate tax rate low, making full expensing of investments permanent, restoring immediate R&D expensing, and preserving key estate tax provisions.
- Trade & International: One in five U.S. jobs depends on trade, and 30% of equipment made in America is exported. AEM urges policymakers to strengthen the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, negotiate new trade deals, and avoid harmful tariffs that increase costs for manufacturers and consumers.
- Workforce: A skilled workforce is critical to the industry’s future. AEM supports expanding career and technical education, promoting vocational opportunities, and ensuring workplace safety through balanced regulations and collaborative partnerships.
- Immigration: The U.S. economy depends on a modernized immigration system. AEM urges lawmakers to strengthen border security, reform legal immigration pathways, improve temporary worker programs, and provide certainty for Dreamers and their employers.
- Technology: Innovation drives the industry forward. AEM supports policies that protect farmers’ and operators’ right to repair their own equipment without undermining intellectual property or safety, safeguard data privacy and cybersecurity, and protect innovation in off-road autonomy and AI by ensuring that regulations do not stifle innovation.
- Environment: Equipment manufacturers are committed to sustainability. AEM supports clear and science-based regulations on PFAS mitigation, pesticide use, and emissions reduction while ensuring environmental policies do not hinder innovation.
“Equipment manufacturers stand ready to work with lawmakers in the United States to strengthen our economy, invest in our workforce, and boost innovation and competitiveness,” said Kip Eideberg, AEM senior vice president of government and industry relations. “This year, our advocacy efforts will be laser focused on bringing industry voices to the table, building coalitions of pro-manufacturing stakeholders, and advancing bipartisan policies that benefit all Americans.”
We invite you to learn more about the equipment manufacturing industry’s policy priorities and the issues AEM is advocating for in state capitals and in Washington, D.C.
AEM will release its 2025 policy agenda for Canada later this month as part of its growing advocacy efforts in provincial capitals and in Ottawa. The brochure will be available in English and French.
To view AEM’s 2025 Policy Priorities brochure, click here.
To get involved in AEM’s advocacy efforts, reach out to the AEM Advocacy Team.
