Hello Again.
Well, it’s mid-April, which means tax-deadline day is upon us yet again. That being said, the new Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 became law over three months ago. The Act introduced some significant changes in regards to equipment depreciation rules for industry – specifically, manufacturers can now expense 100 percent of the cost of qualifying capital equipment purchased through the year 2022.
There are already indications that the new law is spurring increased spending by manufacturers and other commercial entities. In fact, according to Bloomberg, U.S. capital equipment orders surpassed forecasted levels in February, and data shows that corporate outlays for equipment were strong throughout the first quarter of 2018.
In the Thomas Network at Thomasnet.com, our data shows an upward trend in sourcing activity for a vital piece of capital equipment used in manufacturing facilities, warehouses, big box retailers, and distribution centers worldwide. I’m talking about Forklifts, and over the past four weeks, sourcing activity for this broad category of equipment is up 31 percent over its historical average on our platform.
One of the interesting things about the new tax law is that its 100 percent “bonus depreciation” not only covers NEW capital equipment purchases; it also applies to the purchase of USED equipment. On the Thomas blog, we recently wrote an in-depth piece on the pros and cons of buying versus renting, leasing or rebuilding forklifts – if you’re in the market for one, you can check it out at blog.thomasnet.com/forklifts.
Beyond that category, here’s a quick look at the top ten products and services being sourced over the past four weeks at Thomasnet.com.
- Steel
- Food Products
- CNC Machining
- Fasteners
- Metal Fabrication
- Contract Manufacturing
- Machining
- Electronic Manufacturing Services
- Sheet Metal Fabrication
- Precision Sheet Metal Fabrication
Steel is once again at the top of the list, as manufacturers increase their reliance on domestic suppliers in the wake of the new tariffs on foreign steel. If you’re a supplier of forklifts or any of these categories and more, there are significant opportunities for growth happening right now on our platform.
Well, that’s what our data shows this week. The best way to get this weekly Thomas Index report — and other useful industry news — is to sign up for our daily Thomas Industry Update. You can do so by visiting Thomasnet.com.
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next week.