More than 125 members and affiliates of the Motor & Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA) and its four divisions – AASA, HDMA, MERA – The Association for Sustainable Manufacturing, and OESA – participated in the annual MEMA Legislative Summit here on April 30 and May 1.
“As those in this room clearly know, automated and autonomous technologies, new fuel-efficiency technologies and dramatic shifts in the ways that consumers use, and even think about, mobility will fundamentally change our industry,” said MEMA President and CEO Bill Long in his opening remarks to a full audience. “Indeed, we have seen a lot of change. Our industry is built upon it. It defines us – our resilience, ingenuity and our vision. We are an industry prepared to realize our full potential. This change can be head-spinning. And yet, throughout MEMA’s long history, suppliers and our industry have been here before.”
Among the changes and challenges the supplier industry is currently facing are such issues as new tariffs applied to steel and aluminum imports, tariffs on imports from China and the renegotiation of the nearly 25-year-old North American Free Trade Agreement, the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Attendees of the Legislative Summit participated in more than 130 meetings with Trump administration officials and legislators aimed at helping them understand the impact these other issues have on their companies, as well as how decisions in Washington affect businesses across the country.
MEMA’s event in Washington has evolved into a valuable platform for industry dialogue and advancing the business interests of the supplier industry. This year’s event included a “Town Hall” discussion with former U.S. Representatives Joe Crowley (D-New York) and Phil English (R-Pennsylvania); a session on North American trade with Ambassador Martha Bárcena Coqui, the ambassador of Mexico to the United States, and Kirsten Hillman, deputy ambassador of Canada to the United States; and Charlie Cook of the Cook Political Report
