Alliance for American Manufacturing

The Alliance for American Manufacturing (AAM) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit and nonpartisan partnership established in 2007 by American manufacturers and the United Steelworkers labor union. It operates as an industry advocacy and public-policy organization rather than as a consumer-facing product brand. Its work focuses on the conditions affecting manufacturing employment, industrial capacity, infrastructure, trade, and the competitiveness of U.S.-based producers. AAM combines lobbying, policy research, public education, strategic communications, and coalition building. Its stated mission is to examine practical responses to policy challenges including job creation, infrastructure investment, international trade, and global competitiveness. A recurring element of its advocacy is support for robust Buy American requirements in federal and local government procurement. The organization also promotes what it describes as fair trade and argues for a long-term national manufacturing strategy capable of strengthening domestic supply chains and industrial production. The alliance’s institutional model brings together employer and labor perspectives. Its connection to the United Steelworkers gives it a labor movement constituency, while its participation by manufacturers gives it direct ties to industrial companies and sectoral concerns. This positioning allows AAM to present manufacturing policy as both an economic competitiveness issue and an employment issue. Its Washington operation includes lobbying and research functions, supported by a national field staff that communicates manufacturing-related policy arguments beyond the capital. AAM has used conferences, research, media engagement, and coalition activity to raise the political profile of domestic manufacturing. On April 14, 2008, its national convention in Pittsburgh featured addresses by then-Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, reflecting the organization’s effort to engage high-profile national policymakers. Scott Paul was identified as the organization’s president in 2019. The alliance has remained particularly visible in debates over tariffs and trade enforcement. In 2025, Bloomberg described AAM as one of the most vocal sources of outside intellectual support for Donald Trump’s tariff program and noted its strong links to the U.S. steel industry. That characterization placed the organization within a wider debate over whether tariffs and trade restrictions protect domestic industrial capacity or impose costs on downstream manufacturers and consumers. AAM’s broader identity, however, extends beyond tariffs to procurement rules, infrastructure, manufacturing strategy, and the long-term role of industrial production in the U.S. economy.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing was formed in 2007 as a nonprofit, nonpartisan partnership between American manufacturers and the United Steelworkers. Its creation brought together two constituencies that often approach industrial policy from different institutional perspectives: companies concerned with domestic production and competitiveness, and organized labor concerned with manufacturing employment, wages, and the durability of industrial communities. AAM’s identity has consequently been built around presenting domestic manufacturing as a shared national economic interest. From its Washington, D.C. base, the alliance developed a policy, lobbying, research, and communications operation. It also established a national field presence to carry its arguments beyond federal policymakers. Rather than selling physical products, AAM produces policy research, public messaging, educational material, coalition initiatives, and advocacy campaigns concerning the U.S. manufacturing sector. Its agenda has included support for strong Buy American provisions at both federal and local levels. The organization argues that public procurement can help sustain domestic production and employment when government spending is directed toward U.S.-made goods and materials. It has also advocated what it calls fair trade, including policies intended to address trade practices that it believes disadvantage U.S. producers. Infrastructure investment, job creation, global competitiveness, and the development of a long-term national manufacturing strategy have remained connected themes in its work. AAM’s public profile expanded through engagement with national political figures and public events. On April 14, 2008, its national convention was held at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh, where then-Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton addressed attendees. The event demonstrated the alliance’s ability to convene influential political voices around manufacturing policy during a period when industrial employment, trade, and economic restructuring were prominent national issues. In 2019, Scott Paul was identified as the organization’s president. During the following years, AAM continued to participate in arguments over tariffs, trade enforcement, procurement rules, and the strategic importance of domestic industrial capacity. Its advocacy has often aligned with more interventionist approaches to trade than those favored by free-trade proponents, especially where steel and other foundational industries are concerned. In 2025, Bloomberg characterized AAM as one of the most vocal outside sources of intellectual support for President Donald Trump’s tariff program and reported that the organization had strong links to the U.S. steel industry. This description placed AAM at the center of contemporary disputes about protectionism, supply-chain resilience, and the economic effects of import restrictions. Supporters of its approach see trade barriers and domestic procurement preferences as tools for rebuilding industrial capacity; critics generally warn that such policies can increase input costs and provoke retaliation. AAM’s historical role is therefore best understood as that of a manufacturing-policy advocate operating at the intersection of industry, organized labor, trade politics, and national economic strategy.

• 2025

  Prominent role in tariff debate

  Bloomberg described AAM as a vocal source of outside intellectual support for Donald Trump’s tariff program and noted its links to the U.S. steel industry.

• 2019

  Scott Paul identified as president

  [1]Alliance for American Manufacturingen.wikipedia.org

  Scott Paul was identified as president of the Alliance for American Manufacturing.

• 2008

  National convention attracts major political speakers

  [1]Alliance for American Manufacturingen.wikipedia.org

  The organization’s Pittsburgh national convention featured speeches by then-Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton on April 14.

• 2007

  Alliance established

  [1]Alliance for American Manufacturingen.wikipedia.org

  American manufacturers and the United Steelworkers founded the Alliance for American Manufacturing as a nonprofit, nonpartisan partnership focused on U.S. manufacturing policy.

A nonprofit, nonpartisan manufacturing-policy alliance combining labor and industry participation to advocate for domestic production, stronger procurement preferences, trade measures, infrastructure investment, and a national manufacturing strategy.

• Government procurement policy

  Buy American advocacy

  AAM advocates strong domestic-content requirements in federal and local procurement. Its position is that public purchasing can support U.S. factories, industrial employment, and domestic supply chains by favoring American-made goods and materials where applicable.

• Policy research

  Trade and manufacturing policy research

  The alliance researches and communicates positions on international trade, fair-trade enforcement, global competitiveness, infrastructure, job creation, and the future of U.S. industrial capacity. These materials support its lobbying, public education, and coalition-building work.

• Public affairs

  Strategic communications and coalition building

  AAM uses public education, media engagement, field activity, and partnerships to build support for policies intended to revitalize American manufacturing. This work translates industrial-policy arguments into messages for policymakers, workers, manufacturers, and the broader public.

1. 1Alliance for American Manufacturingen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Alliance for American Manufacturing official websiteamericanmanufacturing.org