Commerce's Frink Seeks to Cut Regulations to A

Washington, DC, January 25--Al Frink, President George W. Bush's ``manufacturing czar,'' will recommend the government scale back or eliminate environmental, workplace and other regulations to boost the competitiveness of factory owners. Frink, the founder and former president of Santa Ana, California-based carpet maker Fabrica International, who became the first assistant secretary of Commerce for manufacturing in September, said in an interview last week that a review of 189 regulations will be completed this week. The result should be a reduction in the government, health-care and legal burdens U.S. companies must now deal with, he said. “Manufacturing doesn't get the attention it needs,'' Frink said in the interview from Washington. “We're looking at regulations that have negative consequences on manufacturers.'' Since Bush took office in January 2001, the U.S. has shed 2.7 million factory jobs, which led to a backlash by textile producers, tool-and-die makers and small-scale manufacturers. Those companies say they are being harmed by cheap, subsidized imports from China, onerous lawsuits, rising health-care costs and cumbersome tax and regulatory policies. Frink said his recommendations of which regulations to scrap or change would be provided to the Office of Management and Budget this week as part of the OMB's annual review of the costs and benefits of government rules. It's the first time the impact of regulations on manufacturers is being analyzed, he said. Some analysts aren't convinced of the administration's approach to helping manufacturers. “I'm sure there are a few things here or there, but there's not a robust laundry list of what they've done for manufacturers,'' said Clyde Hufbauer, an economist and former U.S. Treasury official who is a fellow at the Institute of International Economics. The Bush administration in March 2003 launched a yearlong effort to gauge the concerns of factory owners, an effort that led to the creation of a so-called manufacturing czar. A year ago the Commerce Department published more than four-dozen recommendations for how to help manufacturers, including making permanent the repeal of the estate tax, cutting health-care expenses by speeding the approval of generic drugs, limiting the scope of lawsuits and reducing government regulations. Still, small companies, union representatives and analysts say the administration isn't doing what's needed to help them. “It's been a cover for doing other things they wanted to do, such as tort reform,'' said Bob Baugh, director of the AFL- CIO's Industrial Union Council. ``So far the agenda has been set by the multinationals and the administration has gone right along with them.'' Companies such as Deere & Co., the world's biggest maker of farm equipment, and the National Association of Manufacturers petitioned the budget office to redraw rules including those that allow citizens to nominate animals to the endangered species list and that govern the processing of immigrant visas. “Since U.S. manufacturers compete with firms from both developed and developing countries in an increasingly global economy, it is critical that any unnecessary costs are removed,'' the budget office said in a report to Congress last month. Consumer groups such as Public Citizen disagree, petitioning the budget office to strengthen regulations on the basis that tougher rules to prevent vehicle rollovers or better seat belt design would lead to stronger economic growth. The National Resource Defense Council released a study last week they say links a decline in the health of the environment with a reduction in regulation in the past four years.