Posts for October 26, 2010

MANUFACTURERS PUSH THE ADMINISTRATION TO GIVE TAX BREAK

NAM
NAM and other business groups are trying to convince the Obama administration to embrace a tax break that would allow multinationals to return money earned abroad to the US. They argue allowing companies to 'repatriate' money earned abroad to the US at a lower tax rate could spur the economy by providing businesses with a burst of cash they could invest in their companies.
Dorothy Coleman, NAM vice president of tax and domestic economic policy, said, "The business community is looking at ways to jumpstart the economic recovery and here is one you could do without increasing the deficit."

In 2004, the Republican-controlled Congress used the tactic as part of a tax bill by temporarily slashing the 35 percent corporate tax rate to 5.25 percent on foreign profits returned to the US to spur investment.

CORPORATE R&D SPENDING DOWN

Today in Manufacturing
Economic crisis cut research and development spending 1.9 percent worldwide in 2009, but China defied the trend, increasing research investments by 40 percent ... continue

NAM COALITION GETS FAVORABLE ORDER IN GREENHOUSE GAS LITIGATION

FLAG Weekly Communications
The NAM coalition suing the Environmental Protection Agency over its greenhouse gas regulations as they apply to stationary sources has won a preliminary skirmish in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Over strenuous objections from EPA and environmental groups, the court allowed our motion for a partial stay (suspension) of the rules to be filed. Our motion comprehensively addresses three of EPA’s regulatory decisions that begin the regulation of greenhouse gas emissions from stationary sources on January 2, 2011. The court’s order recognized the interrelatedness of EPA’s four-rule process: It requires EPA to file a consolidated response by Oct. 28, and it requires state and environmental intervenors to file a joint response by Nov. 1. The NAM’s final brief in support of a stay is due Nov. 8, and the court could issue its ruling at any time after that. The principal NAM greenhouse gas suits are described here.

NAM MOVES TO PROTECT TRADE SECRETS

FLAG Weekly Communications
The NAM and the Rubber Manufacturers Association asked the Arkansas Supreme Court to review a state court order that requires a manufacturer to give valuable trade secrets and commercially sensitive information to a plaintiff's lawyer without a protective order. Disclosure would cause irreparable harm to the company's competitive position. The NAM argued that the trial court should first consider the content of the documents to determine if they are needed by the plaintiffs, and if so, issue an appropriate protective order. American companies sustain billions of dollars in losses from the theft of their proprietary information, and American courts should not make this situation worse by allowing the improper disclosure of know-how and trade secrets. Cooper Tire Co. v. Neal (Ark.). The NAM’s amicus brief is available here.

OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES IN USING WORKERS' COMP DATA

Quick Manufacturing News
Opportunities for maximizing the use of workers' compensation data for occupational safety and health surveillance and research – and challenges that researchers face in exploring those opportunities -- are examined in a report of proceedings now available from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Click to continue