Press Release

October 25, 2004

Dear Editor:

I would like to publicly express my gratitude to Senators Bond and Talent and President Bush for their hard work in making the recently-signed Jumpstart Our Business Strength (JOBS) Bill a reality.

The JOBS law will make important changes to the U.S. tax code that will allow U.S. manufacturers to compete on a more level playing field with our international competitors.  U.S. tax rates on manufacturers are higher than most of our competitor countries.  This new law will lower the effective tax rate on businesses which is essential to maintaining and growing U.S. manufacturing jobs.

In addition, the JOBS law will repeal the FSC-ETI tax provision that has resulted in a 12 percent tariff in Europe on more than 1600 U.S. manufactured products.  That tariff has made in next to impossible for a number of U.S. companies to sell their products in the European market.  Now that the repeal of FSC-ETI is underway, I hope Europe will immediately repeal their tariffs.

This bill has been a long time coming and I applaud those in Washington who have made it a reality, and hope that the Bush Administration will keep the pressure on the Europeans to immediately repeal their tariffs.

Sincerely,

Cory T. Ridenhour

Executive Director & CEO

Missouri Forest Products Association