Thread: What keeps me up at night about @realDonaldTrump trade policy and tariffs on steel and aluminum #tariffs
“It feels like 2008 again.”
This is what I heard during a phone call with my family in Michigan last night.
This is what I heard during a phone call with my family in Michigan last night.
My family started a tool and die company in Michigan in 2002 in a tiny garage with rented equipment. Today they employ roughly 40 people.
Today, trade policies are compounding against the auto industry and their down supplies (like this company). So much so that I’ve been told “there is no work...it’s like everyone is scared the market might go under again.”
Steel prices that could be quoted for 30 days or more, can now only be guaranteed for a week. The market is so volatile that some manufacturers aren’t bidding new work for fear they might lose money on the job.
What is causing this uncertainty?
• tariffs on steel and aluminum, the primary inputs for tool and die
• NAFTA rules of origin negotiations
• the continual fear that NAFTA could go away
• tariffs on steel and aluminum, the primary inputs for tool and die
• NAFTA rules of origin negotiations
• the continual fear that NAFTA could go away
What are the consequences?
Steel and aluminum users, like my father’s company, are facing tough decisions.
If they don’t get new work soon, layoffs will be the first move.
Steel and aluminum users, like my father’s company, are facing tough decisions.
If they don’t get new work soon, layoffs will be the first move.
“There are so many fronts open that introduce risk into the autos’ business, and the suppliers’ business, that I don’t know how you do any business planning at all right now.” - Kristin Dziczek, Center for Automotive Research in Michigan.
Trump’s Trade Moves Put U.S. Carmakers in a Jam at Home and Abroad nyti.ms/2KQ1NUZ
