In his State of the Union address, President Obama laid out the importance of manufacturing as we seek to make America a magnet for jobs. He believes there’s much we can achieve to create new manufacturing jobs, including in rural America.
For example, we can achieve a common-sense reform of the tax code. The President proposed lowering tax rates for manufacturers by 25 percent, while ending unfair tax breaks for companies that ship jobs overseas.
We can achieve strong markets and a level playing field for American-made products. USDA has already helped the President achieve record exports of agricultural products – with more than $478 billion in agricultural exports from 2009-2012. We will be there to help expand trade with Europe, Asia and other areas throughout the world. These efforts will open doors not just for agriculture, but for quality manufactured products made here at home.