Small Manufacturers Get $9M Loan Cap: New Bill Rewards 100% U.S. Production

This legislation, officially called the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act of 2025, is pretty straightforward: it’s designed to pump significantly more capital into small U.S. manufacturing businesses. It does this by creating a special, highly preferential category for businesses that meet two strict requirements. First, they must be primarily involved in manufacturing (NAICS sectors 31, 32, or 33—think making physical goods). Second, and this is the big one, every single one of their production facilities must be located within the United States (SEC. 2).

The 'Made in America' Premium

If a small business qualifies as a “small manufacturer” under this new, strict definition, they unlock access to dramatically higher loan limits through the Small Business Administration (SBA). For instance, the standard maximum for the popular 7(a) loan program is currently $3,750,000 for most businesses. Under this bill, that cap jumps to $7,500,000 for a small manufacturer. And for certain higher loan limits, that cap goes up to $9,000,000 (SEC. 3).

Think about what that means for a growing business. Say you're running a mid-sized machine shop that needs a new, multi-million dollar CNC machine to fulfill a major contract. Under the old rules, you might have had to piece together funding from multiple sources. Now, if you keep all your production stateside, you can potentially get a single, federally guaranteed loan that covers the full cost of that expansion, allowing you to scale up faster and hire more people.

Doubling Down on Exports and Expansion

The bill doesn't stop at standard business loans. It also significantly increases the limits for export financing and for loans under the Small Business Investment Act of 1958. For export loans, which help U.S. companies sell their goods overseas, the limit for a small manufacturer shoots up to $10,000,000 (SEC. 3). This is a huge leg up for smaller companies trying to compete internationally.

Furthermore, Section 4 increases the loan cap under the Small Business Investment Act from $5,500,000 to $10,000,000 for these domestic manufacturers. This provision is geared toward businesses looking for major, long-term capital investments, whether that’s building a new facility or buying out a competitor. Essentially, the bill uses the power of the SBA loan guarantee programs to reward and incentivize companies that commit to 100% domestic production.

The Catch: No Overseas Footprint Allowed

While this is clearly beneficial for fully domestic manufacturers, it draws a sharp line in the sand. Any small manufacturing company that relies on even one production facility outside the U.S.—whether it’s a small assembly plant or a specialized component facility—is completely excluded from these higher limits. They remain stuck at the lower, standard loan caps. This bill is designed to be a clear incentive: if you want the big money, you have to bring all your manufacturing home. This means that a small, innovative company that currently uses a contract manufacturer overseas to manage costs will have to make a tough choice: forgo the cheap production or forgo the massive increase in available capital.