Dow Chemical Co. CEO Andrew Liveris made a plea for a national manufacturing policy Monday at the Detroit Economic Club, which also announced a national economic summit for Detroit next June that Liveris will co-chair.

In his speech, Liveris said the policy should include measures sure to raise Democratic hackles -- cutting the corporate tax rate, "reinventing" regulation, and "reforming" what he called "an out of control civil justice system that adds a huge cost burden to American enterprise."

But in a press conference after his speech with William Clay Ford Jr., chairman of Ford Motor Co., Ford also mentioned other possible aspects of the policy that might raise Republican hackles. Ford said his auto company is profitable virtually everywhere except the United States, then pointedly noted that "most countries where we operate, the employer doesn't carry the health care burden" as Ford does in the U.S. -- a hint of a desire for health care reform that would remove employers from responsibility for providing insurance. 

And Ford said a national manufacturing policy should address "trade policies .. some markets are not open to us, some are only open in theory," signaling taking a tougher stand on free trade.

Monday's Economic Club event was also the official announcement of the club's plans for The Naitonal Summit: A Gathering To Define America's Future." The summit, co-chaired by Liveris and Ford, intends to convene leaders in business, politics and academe on four issues -- technology, energy, the environment and manufacturing.

At this point, plans call for each day of the summit June 15-17 to start with a kickoff plenary session of experts, followed by a "town hall of town halls," meetings of 200 to 300 people on the four topics, with an audience both in person and online responding electronically to a series of questions to help shape recommendations. Each day will end with a closing session called "Summit Up," summarizing the ongoing discussion and reporting on the electronic voting data.

There will also be a CEO summit and a "C-suite" for event leaders, a future leaders program for high school and university studetns and an "Innovation Celebration" meant to match up entrepreneurs, venture cpaital and researchers to create economic growth.

Liveris said the need for the event is dire. The U.S. economy has lost 3.7 million manufacturing jobs in the past 10 years -- half a million just since the end of 2006.

He said the nation needs an industrial policy that treasures "what first made it strong -- a vibrant industrial and manufacturing base that drives innovation, technology and creates jobs ... Ladies and gentlemen, let us never forget that the very life force and strength of this great country begins here, in America's heartland."

Liveris said the corporate tax rate in the U.S. is the second highest in the industrialized world. And he portrayed regulation as a hodgepodge, bewilderingly complex $10,000-per-worker burden that should be replaced by "sound regulation based on sound science based on logic."

Liveris also said the U.S. desperately needs a comprehensive energy policy that basically looks at all forms of energy and says "yes."

As in, yes to offshore oil drilling. Yes to more funding for energy efficiency. Yes to more money for developing to renewable energy. Yes to more nuclear power plants. Yes to an "Apollo-like R&D project to put America's brains to work, to solve the carbon capture and sequestration question so we can use -- safely and responsibly -- that 200 year supply of coal beneath our feet."

Liveris faulted Congress for failing to pass an extension of the Renewable Energy Tax Credit.

But he didn't blame a particular party for what he described as Washington's many failures.

Liveris said the "only path forward is one of collaboration and coordination, public and private sectors, Republicans and Democrats, industry and envrionmentalists, working together with the goal of finding and removing obstacles. And we need to start where the major challenges of our day intersect, on manufacturing, on jobs, on energy and the environment."

To listen to highlights of the event, visit www.econclub.org.