• Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock
Stock

Trump’s tariff threats send U.S. companies scrambling for lobbyists and loopholes

by November 13, 2024
written by November 13, 2024

In the days since President-elect Donald Trump won the presidential race, Nicole Bivens Collinson’s phone has barely stopped ringing.

Collinson, who helps lead the international trade and government relations division at the lobbying firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, said she is fielding “dozens and dozens and dozens” of calls from anxious U.S. companies looking to protect themselves from Trump’s hardline tariff plans by finding loopholes and exemptions.

“Absolutely everyone is calling,” Collinson told CNBC. “It is nonstop.”

Over the course of the 2024 campaign, Trump made universal tariffs a core tenet of his economic platform, floating a 20% tax on all imports from all countries with a specifically harsh 60% rate for Chinese goods.

That hyper-protectionist trade approach sent chills up the spines of economists, Wall Street analysts and industry leaders who warned that across-the-board tariffs could make production — and in turn, consumer prices — more expensive, just as they were recovering from pandemic-era inflation spikes.

“The threat of tariffs has alarmed retailers and a wide range of other U.S. businesses,” David French, senior vice president of government relations at the National Retail Federation, told CNBC. “Our members have been working on contingency plans since President Trump secured the nomination.”

Ron Sorini, a principal at the lobbying firm Sorini, Samet & Associates, echoed that sentiment, noting that he takes at least two to three calls a day to field companies’ concerns about the proposed tariff ramp-up, especially in China.

″[Companies] question where they should go, and how do they get the components out [of China]? How do they get the whole supply chain out?” Sorini said.

When Trump unleashed his first set of China tariffs in 2018, securing an exemption became a golden ticket in corporate America, a way to safeguard a company’s China-based supply chains rather than paying the hefty price of relocation.

And to obtain that golden ticket, it paid to know the right people.

A 2021 research study found that applications for Trump’s first-term tariff exemptions were more likely to be approved when they came from lobbying firms whose employees had made political contributions to the Republican Party.

Now, with Trump set to retake the White House in a matter of weeks, tariff escalation is becoming a more likely reality.

And in corporate America, the race is on to find the right lobbyists to help companies rub shoulders with the right people, to give them an advantage in securing tariff loopholes.

“Firms are prepared,” SUNY Buffalo finance professor Veljko Fotak, one of the authors of the 2021 study, told CNBC. “The real winners of this process are going to be the lawyers and lobbyists.”

What tariffs will look like in the next Trump administration, and whether exemptions will be available at all, are both unknown.

“Until that clarity comes, businesses will have to plan for a variety of scenarios,” Tiffany Smith, vice president of global trade policy at the National Foreign Trade Council, told CNBC.

In response to CNBC’s request for comment about the Trump team’s plan for exemptions and companies’ concerns of the tariff proposals, Trump transition team spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt doubled down on the president-elect’s campaign promises.

“The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver,” Leavitt told CNBC in a statement.

In the meantime, companies have been trying to set up defenses against Trump’s more aggressive trade approach. These include stockpiling goods in the short run, readying price hikes so they can pass the cost of import duties on to customers, and trying to move their production out of China.

On Thursday, Steve Madden pledged to reduce its Chinese imports by 45% over the next year in anticipation of Trump’s tariff plans.

But exiting China is a significant undertaking for many U.S. companies, especially small businesses that may not have the buying clout or leverage to move production so easily.

“What I would urge is that folks look at the impact on small businesses. Those are the people that are really getting hurt. There’s got to be some way to help companies like that,” Sorini of Sorini, Samet & Associates told CNBC. “Because they really can’t do it on their own.”

This post appeared first on NBC NEWS
0 comment
0
FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail

previous post
Rick Scott knocked out of Senate leader race on first ballot as Thune and Cornyn advance
next post
Trump HHS could reverse Biden-Harris policies on gender treatments for minors

related articles

JPMorgan marks 1,000th branch opening since 2018 expansion...

August 1, 2025

Apple crushes Wall Street expectations as iPhone sales...

August 1, 2025

Ontario cancels internet deal with Musk’s Starlink as...

July 31, 2025

Trump ends de minimis exemption for global low-cost...

July 31, 2025

Recall warns some Celsius energy drink cans accidentally...

July 31, 2025

Union Pacific to buy Norfolk in $85 billion...

July 29, 2025

Things are getting better at Boeing under CEO...

July 29, 2025

Elon Musk confirms Tesla has signed a $16.5...

July 28, 2025

Palantir joins list of 20 most valuable U.S....

July 26, 2025

FCC greenlights Paramount’s $8 billion merger with entertainment...

July 25, 2025
Enter Your Information Below To Receive Free Trading Ideas, Latest News, And Articles.


Your information is secure and your privacy is protected. By opting in you agree to receive emails from us. Remember that you can opt-out any time, we hate spam too!

Latest News

  • Trump admin moves to more easily fire federal workers at 2 agencies: report

    April 3, 2025
  • Even at $8M per Super Bowl commercial, ad executives say it’s still bang for your buck

    February 8, 2025
  • Treasury delays deadline for small businesses to file new form to avoid noncompliance fines

    December 27, 2024
  • Donald Trump sworn in as 47th president of the United States

    January 20, 2025
  • ApeCoin and Akita Inu: New Targets and Prices for This Week

    September 24, 2024

Popular Posts

  • 1

    Secret Service admits leaning on ‘state and local partners’ after claim it ignored Trump team’s past requests

    July 21, 2024
  • 2

    Five more House Democrats call on Biden to drop out, third US senator

    July 19, 2024
  • 3

    Elon and Vivek should tackle US funding for this boondoogle organization and score a multimillion dollar win

    December 4, 2024
  • 4

    Forex Profit Calculator: Maximize Your Trading Potential

    July 10, 2024
  • 5

    Biden calls to ‘lower the temperature’ then bashes Trump in NAACP speech

    July 17, 2024

Categories

  • Economy (829)
  • Editor's Pick (5,603)
  • Investing (634)
  • Stock (867)

Latest Posts

  • Iran vastly increased nuclear fuel stockpile ahead of Trump return, UN agency finds

    November 20, 2024
  • Germany poised to get new conservative chancellor Friedrich Merz

    April 30, 2025
  • Boeing freezes hiring in sweeping cost cuts as it grapples with factory worker strike

    September 17, 2024

Recent Posts

  • Trump vows to increase trade with India, Pakistan after praising ceasefire agreement: ‘A job well done!’

    May 11, 2025
  • From Gaza to Greenland, Macron breaks with Trump on global flashpoints

    July 30, 2025
  • Trump nominates pair to help lead DOJ, announces Federal Railroad Administration pick

    December 21, 2024

Editor’s Pick

  • Tesco Share Price: Forecast and Live Update

    August 2, 2024
  • Huckabee, Witkoff slated for high-stakes Gaza visit to address ‘dire’ starvation crisis

    July 31, 2025
  • New report reveals how Trump admin will eliminate paper straws: ‘Not rocket science’

    March 28, 2025
  • About us
  • Contacts
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions

Disclaimer: moneyrisetoday.com, its managers, its employees, and assigns (collectively “The Company”) do not make any guarantee or warranty about what is advertised above. Information provided by this website is for research purposes only and should not be considered as personalized financial advice. The Company is not affiliated with, nor does it receive compensation from, any specific security. The Company is not registered or licensed by any governing body in any jurisdiction to give investing advice or provide investment recommendation. Any investments recommended here should be taken into consideration only after consulting with your investment advisor and after reviewing the prospectus or financial statements of the company.

Copyright © 2025 moneyrisetoday.com | All Rights Reserved

Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Economy
  • Editor’s Pick
Money Rise Today – Investing and Stock News
  • Investing
  • Stock