On Thursday, SBA Administrator Kelly Loeffler, Sen. Joni Ernst (R-IA), and Rep. Roger Williams (R-TX) announced the ‘Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act,’ in an effort to restore the U.S industrial base.
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00:00Thanks for coming out. Without further ado, we'll get started. And it is wonderful to be here today alongside Chairman Williams and Chair Ernst to take a major step forward to rebuild American manufacturing.
00:15On Liberation Day, President Trump made a commitment to stand with American workers, rebuild our industrial base and our domestic supply chains, and it is already restoring our national strength.
00:28Just one month later, 75 countries are at the negotiating table, restoring fair trade. And this administration is taking more steps to supercharge manufacturing.
00:40Today, Chairman Williams and Chair Ernst will introduce a new and bipartisan bill that will double the SBA's maximum loan size for small manufacturers who represent 99% of all manufacturers across the United States.
00:57The Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act of 2025 will help accelerate the return to Made in America, empowering small manufacturers with new capital for expansion and hiring.
01:11It means that we will accelerate production. It means we are expanding the blue collar boom into the new collar boom with advanced manufacturing and millions of great jobs across communities that have been left behind.
01:25Our small businesses will be at the heart of restoring American industry, helping to restore our economy and reduce our reliance on foreign adversaries like the Chinese Communist Party.
01:39Thank you to President Trump. We are ending the tragic economic experiment over the last 30 years that hollowed out our communities, cost us millions and millions of jobs and closed down 70,000 factories.
01:53It's a new day. And at the SBA, we see the momentum. In President Trump's first 100 days, we've seen a 74% increase in manufacturing loans to small businesses. That represents about 100 manufacturing loans approved each and every week during his term so far.
02:15Now with a level playing field, our manufacturers will grow. And we are helping them with more capital to fuel a historic comeback. On behalf of the SBA, I want to thank Chairman Williams and Chair Ernst for championing this bipartisan legislation.
02:31And we are so grateful to President Trump for putting the American worker at the heart of his agenda. By working with Congress, this administration will restore made in the USA and put America's small business first. Now I'm proud to introduce to you my good friend and Chairman of the House Small Business Committee, Roger Williams.
02:54Thank you, Chairman.
03:01Well, thank you very much. And I want to also say thank you to Administrator Loeffler for your leadership and Senator Ernst, who I work with and besides working with friends. And this is going to be a great partnership right here. And being a small business owner myself, being a Main Street employer, I can't think of a better time to be involved in our business and start a business.
03:22And I want to say thank you again to our leadership. I want to thank you to this is going to be an opportunity to drive the America first agenda and Main Street America again.
03:32President Trump gets it. We're lucky to have him as our leader. And I think that we none of us have the idea how good this economy is going to be. And the SBA is going to have a large part in it.
03:43The benefits of this bill will advance the President's America first agenda. It will support SBA's Made in America manufacturing initiative, as we've heard, and strengthens the SBA's ability to support modern small manufacturers' steep capital requirements.
03:56When you travel around the country, I think we all agree that small business, one of the things that they're concerned about is access to capital. This is going to do a lot to fix that.
04:04They're going to have a chance to modernize their equipment. They're going to expand their operations. Their workforce development is going to grow.
04:11We're going to put more people to work, more taxpayers, more tax revenue. And the supply chain is going to be better. The supply chain will come from right here in America, which is going to be fantastic.
04:22So this whole thing supports good-paying jobs. It supports good people. It supports capitalism. It supports entrepreneurship. The idea that you can take risk in America and get reward again is back.
04:34And that's what this country has always offered through the years, and it always will. So I want to just say that it's going to be great working with Senator Ernst and Administrator Loeffler.
04:43We're going to do great things. I'm not a pilot, but I know my pilots always talk about CAVU, Seating and Visibility Unlimited. I think that's where we are in America.
04:52So I'm looking forward to it, and I want to say God bless my two friends here, and God bless Main Street America, and God bless President Trump, and the greatest country in the world, America. Thank you.
05:03Oh, man. Thanks, Roger. Thank you so much, Chairman.
05:07Thank you all for being here today. I am so proud to join with President Donald J. Trump, Administrator Loeffler, and, of course, my dear friend and baseball coach, Roger Williams. Thank you, Chair, very much.
05:23We are unleashing American production, and we are supporting our small businesses.
05:31So I am the very proud daughter of an Iowa farmer and small business owner, and we have already seen a domestic – whoa, and there go my talking points.
05:42But thanks, Palmer. So we have – thanks, Chair. You weren't quick enough. That's why we have young staff members.
05:49I was getting it in my head. Well, thanks, everyone. We have already seen a domestic manufacturing explosion under President Donald J. Trump in Iowa and all across the United States.
06:04Since he took office, as Administrator Loeffler has said, the SBA has reported a 74 percent surge in manufacturing loans.
06:16Meanwhile, Administrator Loeffler has restored financial responsibility to SBA's loan programs.
06:25Expansion on Main Street should not be limited by government.
06:30And that's why our Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act doubles the loan limit from $5 million to $10 million.
06:41This gives our small manufacturers access to capital, the capital that they need to invest in new equipment and hire new employees.
06:51Boosting American manufacturing strengthens the economy and our national security, which is something that's very important to all of us, by decreasing our reliance on foreign nations and our adversaries.
07:06So, you know what, folks? Let's make Made in America the norm instead of the exception.
07:15So, thank you all very much. We look forward to taking a few questions. Okay, we'll go ahead and open up. And yes, sir, thank you.
07:23Yes, Senator. So, if there's a carrot and a stick, this seems sort of like the carrot and the tariffs are the sticks. What sort of, when and if this is passed, what sort of situation do you want with tariffs? Do you want deals across the board? Are you hoping that some tariffs stick around so that there's further encouragement to invest in America?
07:43Absolutely. And I can answer part of that and then I'll toss it over to Administrator Loeffler. For us, this is the carrot. We know that many of our small businesses, small manufacturers, this is for the little guy, not the big guy. So, our small manufacturers really need access to capital. And in the last administration, we saw Bidenflation and it drove costs of expanding our businesses up.
08:10So, doubling the amount of the loans, those individual loans will make a huge difference. It is a carrot to bring manufacturing into the United States. So, I'll toss it to Administrator Loeffler to speak about the tariffs.
08:25Thank you, Chair Ernst. Small businesses want a level playing field today. That's what, that is a carrot. And what we're doing is using the stick with our allies and adversaries alike who have taken advantage of our country for far too long, who have hollowed out communities that have decimated small businesses, that has shrinked the opportunity set for American workers.
08:51So, we're looking at the tariff and the monetary and the non-monetary tariffs that impact the ability of small businesses to compete on a level playing field globally. Essentially, for American small businesses, export markets have closed because of the non-tariff and monetary trade barriers. So, we have to get that back.
09:12We're very focused on making sure that we're providing the capital so that they can grow. And we just talked about 100 manufacturing loans a week in the last 13 weeks.
09:23The other thing I'll say is, tariffs are one part of the economic agenda that President Trump is so effectively executing. We're talking tax cuts, deregulation. Under Biden, $1.7 trillion in excessive regulation was piled disproportionately on the backs of small businesses and our manufacturers.
09:43So, tariffs are one part of it. And taxes, deregulation, ensuring we have a skilled workforce, low energy prices, these are all things that are going to benefit small businesses in the near term and for the long term.
09:56Chairman, did you have any thoughts?
09:57Yeah, I want to interject one thing in there just to cut through the fat. I'm a car dealer. So, you want to talk about tariffs, you're talking to the guy right here. I'm not afraid of tariffs. I'm aware of tariffs.
10:08But let me say this, even more important. This is for, as you said, the little guy, Main Street America. And when I travel all over the country and I talk to people in business like me, they're not talking about tariffs.
10:19They need access to capital. They got the idea. They need the capital. This bill does that. Plus, you couple it with tax cuts they're going to get. Now you're cooking.
10:29So, tariffs are one thing. But most importantly, is this access to capital is the biggest thing we can do for Main Street America?
10:35Absolutely. Yes, sir.
10:38Administrator Lesler, these manufacturing loans will be larger, potentially, than any loans SBA's made before. Are you taking steps, I guess, in the Office of Credit Risk Management, just from an asset quality standpoint to sort of get ready for this? Do these present different challenges than SBA has dealt with currently?
10:58Absolutely. So we have taken a hard look, both from a capital access lender perspective, which means we work with our private sector partners. Keep in mind, all SBA loans come out through our local lenders across our communities in America. About 2,500 banks do a thorough underwriting process. And the banks, while these are government-backed loans, the banks would take the first loss. So these are loans that meet stringent underwriting standards.
11:27Underwriting standards of any banker. And then we've also evaluated our own loan portfolio in terms of how manufacturing loans perform, particularly the larger ones. They're some of the very best performing loans because they have assets backing them up. And they are typically used for growth.
11:46And so that's exactly what we're seeing across this country right now. We've met with over 250 manufacturers so far. And we're just seeing tremendous demand for locally sourced, America-sourced products. And the consumer has it, too. The consumer wants to buy Made in America.
12:03And we're going to be continuing to roll out additional initiatives that support on-shoring these supply chains that are so critical to our economic and national security.
12:10Well, yes, absolutely. So we have it introduced in the House and in the Senate. It is a bipartisan bill in the Senate. And I am pleased to say that Senator Chris Coons is my Democratic co-sponsor. We will have a Democratic sponsor in the House as well.
12:37So we anticipate this. This is something that we all do agree on and it should move very quickly. I am hopeful that we can get this over the finish line, get it to the president as soon as possible, because this is something that American manufacturers need. And again, it's for the small businesses, the small manufacturers, and it will make a difference in bringing back American manufacturing.
13:04Thank you all for coming out. Thank you so much.