CRS report via FAS – What Is Manufacturing? Why Does the Definition Matter? Marc Levinson, Section Research Manager, February 6, 2017. “Numerous provisions in federal law are intended to support manufacturing in the United States. Almost without exception, these provisions define manufacturing as the process of physically transforming goods. Physical transformation involves what might be thought of as traditional manufacturing activities such as molding, cutting, and assembly. These laws establish a variety of potential benefits, preferences,or penalties based on the country in which physical transformation occurs .By and large, federal supports targeted specifically at manufacturing rest on two implicit premises that have been rendered questionable as a result of developments in the private sector…”