- Key insight: A bill passed by the House and under consideration by the Senate would double the loan-size limit for SBA manufacturing loans to $10 million.
- Why it matters: Lending spiked nearly 60% the last time SBA increased the loan-size threshold.
- Expert quote: "Manufacturing is capital intensive and increasing SBA loan limits to these firms is a logical step." — Erik Daniels, head of SBA lending for U.S. Bancorp.
Nearly a year after it was unveiled with fanfare, legislation that would use Small Business Administration loans to support the Trump administration's manufacturing agenda is under consideration in the Senate, with one last hurdle to clear before a potential signing ceremony.
The Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act would double the loan-size threshold for manufacturing loans in the SBA's flagship 7(a) program, allowing for loans of up to $10 million.
The SBA has been working to boost manufacturing-related lending — using its own authority and staying within the existing $5 million loan-size threshold — but with limited results.
The agency launched its Manufacturers' Access to Revolving Credit program in the fall, offering qualified borrowers government-guaranteed loans of up to 20 years with guarantees of 75%. Loans of $150,000 or less are eligible for 85% guarantees. To date, approvals under the program total $11 million, according to an SBA spokesperson.
The pending legislation could give a significantly bigger boost to SBA lending activity.
In addition to doubling the loan-size limit for U.S. manufacturers under the 7(a) program, it would do the same for the SBA's 504 loan program. "This will help small manufacturers buy equipment and expand, strengthen supply chains, and help create jobs," the SBA spokesperson said.
The 7(a) program provides guarantees of 50% to 85% on working-capital loans to small-business borrowers. The 504 program is designed to support investment in fixed assets or heavy equipment. Together, the two programs delivered more than $45 billion of capital to small-business lenders during the agency's 2025 fiscal year, which ran from October 2024 through September 2025.
The last increase to the 7(a) program's loan-size limit came in 2010, when it was increased from $2 million to $5 million as part of the Small Business Jobs Act. In the first year after that law's passage, the dollar volume of 7(a) lending
SBA administrator Kelly Loeffler
"With the bipartisan House passage of the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act, manufacturers are one step closer to unlocking the capital they need to bring home American jobs and industry," Loeffler said in a press release.
A parallel version of the Made in America Manufacturing Finance Act, sponsored by
"I look forward to the Senate taking up this legislation, so we can build upon the domestic manufacturing explosion under President Trump by giving small businesses access to the resources they need to make 'Made in America' the norm instead of the exception,' Ernst said Thursday in a statement to American Banker.
The legislation has attracted support from banks.
"Manufacturing is capital intensive and increasing SBA loan limits to these firms is a logical step that would help them increase capacity and invest in new facilities and equipment," Erik Daniels, head of SBA lending at the $692.3 billion-asset U.S. Bancorp, told American Banker in a statement. "We are committed to serving small manufacturers and this bipartisan legislation would help us further support our clients."
JPMorganChase, the nation's largest bank by assets, declared its support for the legislation in
Tony Wilkinson, president and CEO of the National Association of Government Guaranteed Lenders, said his group, which represents hundreds of bank SBA lenders, also supports the bill — and is already eyeing an eventual extension of the expanded loan-size threshold to all borrowers.
"We have agreed with SBA that the increased loan size would need to be coupled with appropriate underwriting guidelines," Wilkinson told American Banker in an email. "Once those are in place, and we are seeing appropriate performance of the larger loans, we would be hopeful that the larger loan size would then be available for all small businesses."
Under the bill, loans eligible for the higher size limit must fall within Sectors 31, 32 or 33 of the North American Industrial Classification System, which are used to classify business establishments.
President Trump has made reviving the U.S. manufacturing base one of the central goals of his second administration. He appears to have aided in
His related policy of increasing tariffs in an effort to boost the competitiveness of U.S.-made goods has been more controversial, with some critics blaming it for driving up costs for consumers and sowing confusion in the economy.
