Tag Archives: AMT

Reuters: Machine tool orders

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US April machine tool demand down from March

by Ayesha Rascoe


(Reuters) Demand for the machine tools that shape metal for products such as car engines and refrigerators dropped sharply in April, two groups said in a joint report on Sunday.

U.S. April machine tool demand declined 27.6 percent to $396.47 million from $547.81 million in March, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association (AMTDA) and the Association for Manufacturing Technology (AMT) said.

Demand grew 29.2 percent from $306.86 million a year earlier in April 2007.

Exports continue to boom as this very volatile series suggests.

2008-06-09 US Exports YoY

US Exports YoY

March demand was revised upward from $544.62 million reported a month ago.

In the first four months of 2008, demand for machine tools, which gives a sense of the pace of manufacturing, stood at $1.587 billion, up 19.9 percent from $1.324 billion in the same 2007 period.

“Export demand for U.S. manufactured products and the global boom in infrastructure development continues to fuel the surprising growth in capital equipment investment,” said AMT President John Byrd in a statement. “The decline from March to April is not surprising, considering the extraordinary results posted in March.”

Demand for machine tools dropped throughout the country in April. In the South, demand fell 59.8 percent, while demand decreased 35.2 percent in the Northeast and 31.7 percent in the Central United States.

Demand also dipped 10.4 percent in the Midwest. In the West, however, demand rose 3.4 percent.

The machine tools report is generally based on a survey of about 200 manufacturers, distributors and importers of machine tools that represent 76 percent of the machine tool market.


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AMT tax reduction passes

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Looks like it adds about $50 billion to 2008 after tax incomes.

Demand can use all the help it can get right now!

Congress Gives AMT Relief For 20 Million Taxpayers

Congress acted in its final hours Wednesday to block growth of the alternative minimum tax, putting off an economic hardship affecting more than 20 million taxpayers and avoiding what would have been a political black mark for both parties.
AP
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The House voted 352-64 for a one-year fix of the AMT, a four-decade tax originally meant only to touch super-rich tax dodgers but now hitting millions of middle- and upper-middle income level households. Without that fix, an annual ritual of Congress, those subject to the tax would have risen from 4 million in 2006 to about 25 million in 2007, with the average levy of $2,000 a taxpayer.

“What we are hearing across the country today is a collective sigh of relief,” said Rep. Eric Cantor, R-Va.

The legislation now goes to President Bush, who says he will sign it because, bowing to White House and GOP demands, it does not include tax increases or other new sources of revenue to pay for the $50 billion cost of the tax relief.

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