For President Trump, tariffs are a way to protect American industry and national security. For Tracy Skupien, they are a disaster that put her company in danger.
Skupien is the operational director of Tompkins Products, a small family business in Detroit, taking imported cold draw aluminum bars and converting them into transmission valves and other components in the US automotive industry.
Last week’s move by Trump would make Tompkins’ main input much more expensive, with a 25% tariff on all steel and aluminum imports. .
“Obviously there’s no way to increase the price of my materials so dramatically,” she says. “That’s not feasible.”
More taxation may be underway. Trump has placed additional tariffs on China on February 4th, pending the 25% tariffs in Canada and Mexico. On Thursday, he announced plans for new “fair and mutual” measures on trade that could see tariffs raised in the wider countries.
All over the US, businessmen warn that this new trade war can raise costs, disrupt supply chains and damage profits.
Ford CEO Jim Farley said the impact on the automotive sector is devastating. “In the long term, a 25% tariff across the Mexico-Canada border will blow a hole in the US industry we have never seen,” he told the meeting Tuesday.
Even one of Wall Street’s biggest Republican donors felt compelled to speak out. The “uncertainty and chaos” created by Trump’s trade moves against Trump’s closest allies will be “growth obstacles,” he said, founder of hedge fund Citadel’s billionaire Ken Griffin spoke at the meeting Tuesday.
Trump’s “above rhetoric” had “sear (ed)” in the minds of CEOs and policymakers. We cannot rely on the US as our US trading partner,” he added.
Trump’s election victory last November unleashed a wave of enthusiasm on both Wall Street and Main Street, causing the dollar to surge and stocks as investors bet on strengthening economic growth, lower regulations and lower taxes. reached its highest high.
Tracy Skupien says there is no way her small family-owned Tompkins products can absorb a significant rise in aluminum prices. Customers say they are resisting more payments ©Tracy Skupienshe says Korean rival manufacturers can purchase steel and aluminum fees for free, and then export ends can end products to the US, she Product Undercut ©Anthony Wallace/AFP/Getty Images
However, there are signs that corporate America’s massive swath is already beginning to get sour in Trump as concerns grow over the negative economic impact of his trade and immigration policies.
Executives are worried that Trump’s import duties will attack businesses, his crackdown on undocumented immigrants exacerbate an already sharp labor shortage, and the fundamental overhaul of government is a smooth functioning of federal officials It will significantly confuse you.
“The first happiness I saw in January through the president of professional business has replaced my surprise,” says Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Senior Associate Dean of Leadership Studies at Yale School of Management. says.
Some business leaders say the darkness is overkill. Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said this week that market participants are still “excited” by Trump’s policy, particularly the prospect of “more growth-oriented agenda” He said.
The administration’s move to cut regulations told the bank meeting on Tuesday: . . The Spirit of Animals.”
The oil industry, a major donor to the Trump campaign, will also unlock new oil and gas supplies and wipe out Biden-era regulations that drillers say have increased costs and limited activities He praised the president’s executive order blizzard.
“It’s good to see an administration aimed at leveraging and encouraging the richness of America’s energy,” said Mike Worth, CEO of US oil major Chevron, in the second half of last month. He spoke to an analyst about revenue calls. “So I think it’s a more balanced approach.”
But in addition to praise the new administration, Goldman’s Solomon has acknowledged that the “broad policy environment” is “still uncertain” especially when it comes to Trump’s plans on immigration, tax, trade and energy. . “There are a lot of policies that are shifting, and until you’re more certain about that policy, it’s going to create a bit of volatility,” he said.
Private conversations go further with Wall Street executives. One senior investment banker has said that Trump’s actions are obstacles and unpredictability, and that people of Elon Musk, the chief of billionaire Tesla, who has become one of his most senior middle li, have been involved in many business. He says it was bigger than the leader expected.
“In hindsight, we didn’t appreciate the nature of how the administration would turn out,” the banker says. “I believe they are hurting their stated purpose for peace and prosperity.”
Certainly, the animal spirit is still lacking. US trade took a worst start in a decade as Trump’s wary trade rhetoric sent the cold through the boardroom. The total number of US mergers and acquisitions surpassed nearly 30% of the January merger and 873 transactions. According to LSEG data, this is the lowest level since 2015.
Meanwhile, the National Federation of Uncertainty in Independent Businesses rose 14 points and 100 points. Consumer sentiment also fell by about 5%, according to the University of Michigan Monthly Consumer Sentiment Index. This is the lowest reading since last July. The survey also focused on “a slide of 12% of durable goods purchase terms, due to the perception that it may be too late to avoid the negative impact of customs policies.”
The sentiment wasn’t helped by data released this week, and spurred economists’ concerns that inflation rates rose to 3% in January, causing the world’s biggest economy to be intensified again.
Citadel founder and Republican donor Ken Griffin told the meeting that “uncertainty and confusion” over tariffs will be “a barrier to growth.” ‘, but said a more growth-oriented agenda “helps investment” © Paul Yeung/Bloomberg
Trump, who entered the White House a month ago, can hardly blame higher inflation. However, his trade policy could raise prices, threatening to strip tensions with his allies and partners.
Businesspeople had largely rejected talks on the tariff campaign as bluffs and frustrators. At best, they thought it would be a negotiation ploy to win trade concessions. It is published as hopeful thinking.
“All trade policy attacks are on allies, not their enemies, and CEOs are really worried,” Sonnenfeld said. “Trump was elected to the economy and now believes the economy is at risk.”
The dilemma for business leaders is whether they will suffer silence or risk talking and being hostile to the White House.
Ford’s Farley was one of the few who spoke up to them by stating that the proposed tariff regime, which is intended to boost American industry, would in fact benefit their rivals.
“Frankly, it gives Korean and Japanese businesses a free rein,” he said. “They bring 1.5-2mn vehicles to the US and are not subject to those Mexican and Canadian tariffs. So… This is one of the biggest atriums for businesses to date. ”
Skupien, a Tompkins product, reflects Farley’s fear. Her company has competitors in Korea and Spain, where they buy talf-free aluminum in their country, make the same products as Tompkins, and import them freely to the US. “The same metal is coming to the US, but as a finished product – therefore there are no customs duties,” she says. “So we’re not competitive right now.”
US automakers like Ford compete with companies in Korea, Japanese and European that are not subject to Mexican and Canadian tariffs © Carlos Osorio/Apford Chief Jim Farley said the proposed tariff system was He said the aim is clearly to boost the American industry. “One of the biggest atriums of (rival) companies to date” ©Bill Pugliano/Getty Images
She says she has one US supplier of aluminum that can step up, but switching to locks, stocks and barrels includes “long lead times.” Meanwhile, customers have fought back strongly against her attempts to offset the cost of import taxes by hiking the prices of Tompkins products.
“They say: Supply issues are yours, not my problem,” she says. They may ultimately concede to the price, but “it’s going to be a bloodshot.”
Complaints like Skupien are being heard throughout the industry. The coalition of American metal manufacturers and users, a trade group, warned on Tuesday that imposing tariffs on steel and aluminum without a viable exclusion process would “expose US manufacturers directly to harm them.”
It’s not just tariffs that cloud photos for some American companies. The automotive sector has also been rattled by changes in Trump’s electric vehicle policy, with the White House warning of federal support for tax breaking down and rolling out charging networks.
Desmond Wheatley, chief executive officer of San Diego-based EV charging company Beam Global, said the surge in executive orders targeting EVs and renewable energy has undermined more widely investor confidence. I did. “Cryptonite for investors is uncertain,” he told the Financial Times later last month.
The fate of Joe Biden’s inflation reduction law has attracted more than $400 million in clean investment and hundreds of thousands of dedicated work, but Congressional Republicans have made Trump’s priorities There is a risk as they are rushing to collect funding budgets.
Dominion Energy’s Robert Blue says that the planned wind turbines were powering the data center and “it was important to continue the US advantage in AI and technology” © Aaron M. Sprecher/Bloombergsam is currently suspicious. Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, the largest country of its kind ©AP
The president ordered a moratorium on offshore wind approval and review of existing wind leases, and suspended hundreds of millions of dollars in loans and green energy grants, making his first priority in office in his first week I made it clear.
Some of the most ambitious renewable energy schemes in the United States are currently questionable, among them Dominion Energy’s Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind Project, the largest country of its kind.
Dominion CEO Robert Blue warned in this week’s revenue call that pulling the project’s plug will raise electricity prices. “Stopping will be the most inflationary action that could be done with Virginia’s energy,” he said.
Wind Turbines Dominion plans to build a data center, and was “critical to continuing the US advantage in AI and technology.” The project was “Creating Jobs in America.”
Skupien laments a policy designed to bring industrial production back to the United States. The goal she says is admirable, but it has hurt domestic manufacturers like Tompkins.
“We’re squeezed between Ford, General Motors and Toyota, while the US government is squeezed on the other hand,” she says. “And all we’re trying to do is keep the lights on.”
Additional reports by Amelia Pollard, Claire Bushey, Jamie Smyth and Will Schmitt
Data visualization by Ray Douglas
