NMMA Year In Review: FY2023 Highlights

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FEATURED INDUSTRY NEWS NMMA Year In Review: FY2023 Highlights NMMA closed our fiscal year 2023 with a strengthened foundation following the successful execution of our rolling three-year strategic objectives across our advocacy and market expansion priorities, which are key to the growth and success of the North American recreational boating industry. This Year in Review report takes a look back at Association and industry highlights throughout fiscal year 2023, including efforts related to advocacy, Discover Boating, business intelligence, consumer and trade Shows, engineering standards, membership trends and more. Read More LEADING ECONOMIC AND POLICY NEWS Holiday Spending Shows Economy’s Strength Heading Into New Year The Washington Post reports as the year draws to a close, “holiday shoppers offered yet another sign that the U.S. economy will roar into the new year. On Tuesday, fresh retail sales data from Mastercard showed that consumers spent big on gifts, meals and apparel in November and December despite inflation’s lingering bite.” Alongside “strong consumer confidence, and the S&P 500’s approaching an all-time high,” it is “clear that the U.S. economy is in a far better place than just about anyone expected, zapping any hints of a recession and bolstering hope that people will keep opening their wallets in 2024.”         Reuters says a Mastercard report showed Tuesday that “U.S. retail sales rose 3.1% between Nov. 1 and Dec. 24, as shoppers looked for last-minute Christmas deals amid big promotions. ... The increase is lower than the 3.7% growth Mastercard forecast in September and last year’s 7.6% rise as higher interest rates and inflation pressured consumer spending.” Apple Appeals USITC Decision On Smartwatches After Administration Declines To Delay Ban The Wall Street Journal reports that on Tuesday, Apple filed an appealed the US International Trade Commission decision that found two models of the company’s smartwatches use technology that violates Masimo’s patents for a blood-oxygen sensor and forced the company to stop selling them. In its filing with the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, Apple argued it will suffer “irreparable harm” if the ban remains in effect, since the models are its two most popular – the Apple Watch Series 9 and the Apple Watch Ultra 2. Reuters reports that for its part, the USITC already “rejected Apple’s request to pause the ban during the appeal process and opposed Apple’s request for the Federal Circuit to halt the ban in a court filing on Tuesday.”         Bloomberg says a “prolonged ban would hit one of Apple’s biggest moneymakers at a difficult time. Already, the company has been struggling to pull out of a sales slump.” And the Series 9 and Ultra 2 models “account for most of Apple’s watch sales.” Additionally, in “a potential headache for owners of the Apple Watch Series 6, 7 and 8 – all of which include the blood-oxygen feature – out-of-warranty watches won’t be eligible for hardware repairs until the ban is lifted.” CNN says Apple “may be able to make software tweaks, perhaps changing the way the Watch interacts with the pulse oximeter so that it does not violate Masimo’s patent. But such a change could take time, and there’s no guarantee that the ITC will accept Apple’s potential solution.”         The Washington Post points out the White House had until the end of Christmas Day to veto the USITC’s decision. However, the Administration “instead allowed its 60-day presidential review period to quietly expire. On Tuesday morning, the office of the U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai confirmed in a statement that, after ‘careful consultations,’ it would not overturn the ITC’s ruling.” Politico reports President Biden also “declined to overturn a similar patent ruling involving Apple and another medical device company AliveCor earlier this year, but that import ban is still on hold due to ongoing litigation between the firms. And the president narrowly avoided a tough decision in an ITC case on electric vehicle batteries in 2021, when he was saved by a settlement between the competing firms.” CP2 Project Forces Administration To Confront “Central Contradiction” In Its Energy Policies The New York Times reports that “a little-known company wants to build a $10 billion facility” along the Louisiana coastline “that would allow the United States to export vast stores of liquefied natural gas.” Supporters of the CP2 project “say the export terminal would be a boon for the United States economy and help Europe decrease its reliance on gas imported from Russia.” But opponents say it would “lock in decades of additional greenhouse gas emissions.” The Biden Administration will have to “decide whether or not the project moves forward.” The decision “forces the Biden administration to confront a central contradiction within its energy policies: It wants nations to stop burning the fossil fuels that are dangerously heating the planet. ... But at the same time, the United States is producing record amounts of crude oil, is the leading exporter of liquefied natural gas and may approve an additional 17 export facilities, including CP2.” Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over AI Research Partnership Between NIST, RAND Corp Politico reports members of the House Science Committee from both parties “are sounding the alarm over a planned research partnership on artificial intelligence between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the RAND Corp.” Lawmakers, “including House Science Chair Frank Lucas (R-Okla.), ranking member Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and leaders of key subcommittees,” sent a letter to NIST on Dec. 14 “that chastised the agency for a lack of transparency and for failing to announce a competitive process for planned research grants related to the new U.S. AI Safety Institute.” They “also warned NIST about the quality of AI safety research stemming from outside groups, saying they routinely ‘hide behind secrecy,’ ‘fail to provide evidence of their claims’ and often disagree on basic definitions or principles.” They wrote, “We believe this work should not be rushed at the expense of doing it right.” Previous Top Stories  • EU-US Reach Agreement To Continue Suspension Of Section 232 Tariffs  • Leading Economic Index Signals U.S. Economy May Still See Recession

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