由 jpichiban Sat, 01 Feb 2025 13:42:26 GMT
President Trump is planning to impose 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada on Saturday, and 10% tariffs on China, making a signature campaign promise and core economic philosophy of his administration reality, with implications for everything from oil to autos to the U.S consumer. But for many companies across the economy, the preparations for a new tariffs war began long ago — well before Trump won the 2024 election.From large companies in consumer sectors like Walmart, Columbia Sportswear and Lenovo, to a wide range of critical goods for infrastructure projects, importers moved quickly throughout 2024 to get as much product as they could into the U.S.Conversations with clients on bringing in their products ahead of possible tariffs began as far back as March of last year, says Paul Brashier, vice president of global supply chain at ITS Logistics, with components used in infrastructure projects one of the biggest product segments being brought into the country early.”A lot of those [infrastructure/construction] budgets were made two or three years ago, and an additional 20% in cost could blow those budgets out of the water,” Brashier said. “So you need to get them in before the tariffs so you can protect the bottom line.”Solar panels, backup power supply items, racks, and lithium batteries used in data centers were identified by ImportGenius as some additional items being frontloaded.”When it comes to the impact of tariffs, companies are very granular and they’re very concrete,” said Josh Teitelbaum, senior counsel of Akin, which has been advising his clients to prepare for swiftness with President Trump’s tariff plans and not get bogged down in debates over the efficacy of tariffs as economic policy. “They’re not interested in academic questions about what the principles are and whether or not this specific tool can be theoretically justified to use this particular tariff. They want to know when is it going to impact me and by how much and which products,” said Teitelbaum, who was involved in the structuring of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a trade deal that President Trump pulled the U.S. out of during his first time in office.Bringing in products early requires storing them in warehouses, and that incurs additional costs. “Warehouse costs are folded into the price of a product. In the end, the consumer will pay,” Brashier said. In the case of infrastructure project equipment storage, companies absorb the cost, but it is better than paying the tariff, he added.While the market’s largest companies can afford to bring products in early, a strategy called frontloading, not all companies can afford to do take this approach.”I don’t know what’ll happen,” said Rick Muskat, president of the family-owned shoe retailer Deer Stags, which imports around two million shoes a year, with about 98% of their men’s and boy’s shoes made in China and sold in Macy’s, Kohl’s, JCPenney, and on Amazon.Trump has threatened to ultimately impose tariffs of up to 60% on products from China.Muskat says the company’s “razor-thin margins” prohibit it from frontloading products, and consumers may ultimately have to pay. “We’ll increase our price,” Muskat said. “The retailer will either accept it or won’t accept it. If they accept it, they’ll increase their price. Then the consumer will be left with no other choice. There will be sticker shock.”Despite claims from President Trump that foreign nations such as China pay for tariffs, Muskat said firms like his bear the brunt of the pain. And he showed CNBC Customs documents to prove it.”The importer pays the tariff,” Muskat said. “The goods are not released by Customs into the American territory until the importer pays the duty, the tariff, the tax. Customs pulls the amount directly out of our checking account.Deer Stags most popular men’s shoe sells for $50. If tariffs are imposed, Muskat said that shoe will likely increase to $75. Part of the problem, Muskat explained, is that shoe orders and prices are negoti 特朗普政府正考虑对进口商品全面加征关税，这一政策可能对依赖进口材料的美国企业造成重大影响。例如，位于新泽西州的家族企业Muskat工业公司，其生产所需的钢材几乎全部依赖进口。公司总裁大卫·马斯卡特表示，尽管他们已提前七个月与客户协商应对可能的成本上升，但特朗普的关税政策仍威胁到了他们家族实现美国梦——拥有自己的企业。
马斯卡特担忧地说：“这确实让我夜不能寐。我们是一家家族企业，视员工如家人。团队中大多数人已与我们共事超过20年，只有少数新近入职的成员是接替退休人员的。他们都属于我们这个大家庭。我们非常关心他们，并尽力改善现状。因此，关税可能对我们家族及更广泛的‘大家庭’产生的影响令人忧虑。”
Apco全球公共事务实践负责人萨菲亚·戈里-艾哈迈德指出，此次关税的影响范围将比特朗普首个任期时更为广泛。她建议企业应坦诚向消费者传达价格上涨的真实影响。此次关税不仅针对中国，还可能涉及美国最大的贸易伙伴墨西哥和加拿大，涵盖食品、汽车、家具及来自墨西哥的玩具等多个领域。
即使近年来已采取措施重组供应链和制造布局的企业，面对如此复杂的运营环境，也难以迅速调整以规避关税带来的重大冲击。例如，瓷砖及相关产品制造商SurfaceArt因2018年关税将生产转移出中国，耗资数百万美元在美国设立工厂，但仍无法满足市场需求。为此，该公司在越南、西班牙和意大利增设设施以补充美国产能的不足。
家族企业SurfaceArt总裁凯文·斯图普费尔强调，美国市场对进口瓷砖的需求显而易见。若特朗普政府实施全面进口关税（目前各联邦部门正奉命在60天内提交潜在关税报告），不仅企业和业主，所有美国人都需做好准备。他指出：“美国目前无法生产满足市场需求的瓷砖。这将影响你认识的每一个人，包括建筑成本、建房成本以及装修费用。”
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原文链接：https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/01/inside-the-planning-for-trumps-new-tariff-war-across-the-us-economy.html