SOCMA, Specialty Chemical Execs Advocate for Regulatory Reform

The Society of Chemical Manufacturers & Affiliates brought specialty chemical industry executives to Washington, D.C. this week for a series of meetings with federal agencies and lawmakers focused on U.S. manufacturing competitiveness, regulatory certainty and domestic supply chain policy.

Participating executives represent member companies including McGean, Monument Chemical, Toll Solutions, Hampford Research, Third Coast, Nation Ford Chemical, Piedmont Chemical, AVN Corporation, NexSJen Solutions, Ascent Chemicals, Trecora, ChemDesign, Cambrex, Boulder Scientific, Genesis Custom Chemical Blending, Southern Chemicals & Textiles, Sun Chemical and Colonial Chemical.

During the fly-in, SOCMA's Board of Governors met with representatives from OSHA, EPA and the Department of Labor, as well as nine congressional offices, to discuss policies impacting the specialty chemical industry.

Key priorities identified by SOCMA members include improving the performance of EPA's New Chemicals Program by ensuring reviews are completed within statutory timeframes, reducing regulatory backlogs and increasing transparency and predictability for companies developing new chemistries under the Toxic Substances Control Act.

Members are also advocating for policies to strengthen domestic production capacity, reduce reliance on foreign sources for key chemical inputs and improve access to essential materials through tariff exclusion processes.

"An efficient regulatory system, resilient supply chains, and a predictable TSCA program are critical to ensuring specialty chemical innovation and the industries it supports remain anchored in the United States," said Jenn Klein, SOCMA’s new president and CEO.

The Washington fly-in follows the October 2025 release of SOCMA's 2026 Contract Manufacturing Outlook, which identified strong adaptability among small and mid-sized specialty chemical producers, with investment in automation, cybersecurity and regulated manufacturing emerging as key competitiveness drivers. According to the report, esterification has become the most utilized chemistry process among respondents, while ethoxylation demand nearly doubled between 2024 and 2026.