{"id":23822,"date":"2018-03-26T08:09:32","date_gmt":"2018-03-26T06:09:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/modern-wilderness.flywheelsites.com\/?p=23822"},"modified":"2018-03-26T08:09:32","modified_gmt":"2018-03-26T06:09:32","slug":"trump-talks-tariffs-industry-fears-costs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/officerepublic.news\/en\/2018\/03\/trump-talks-tariffs-industry-fears-costs\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Talks Tariffs, Industry Fears Costs"},"content":{"rendered":"
It is too early to tell exactly what the effects of President Donald Trump\u2019s proposed tariffs on steel and aluminum will have on the office furniture industry as exactly who and what will face tariffs remains fluid. But it certainly has sparked the attention of an industry that uses a lot of the raw materials.<\/strong><\/p>\n Though the details of the tariffs remain fluid, here is the basic plan Trump is proposing: 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. Though that alone could potentially hurt manufacturers in the office furniture industry, the larger worry is that the tariffs could set off a trade war with allies and foes alike. And that could undermine the global trading system.<\/p>\n <\/a>A few industry leaders are speaking out on the tariff plan, urging President Trump to reconsider his actions. BIFMA<\/a> <\/span>acted quickly by sending the following letter to President Trump, authored by Executive Director Tom Reardon:<\/p>\n \u201cBIFMA is the trade\u00a0association\u00a0representing\u00a0business and institutional furniture manufacturers\u00a0across North America. Since 1973,\u00a0BIFMA\u02bcs role has been to\u00a0monitor the state of the industry, serve as a forum\u00a0for member cooperation and collaboration, and sponsor the development and refinement of\u00a0product\u00a0standards.<\/p>\n \u201cBIFMA projects that its member companies will experience a significant increase in steel and aluminum costs in 2019 as the result of the recently proposed\u00a0tariffs\u00a0and related inflation. BIFMA further projects the increased material cost will have\u00a0a\u00a0negative impact on market demand, likely leading to a net job loss in\u00a0this sector.<\/p>\n \u201cWe encourage the Administration to reconsider\u00a0the\u00a0imposition of\u00a0tariffs. Taxing goods and materials coming into the U.S. will\u00a0likely\u00a0result in retaliatory actions\u00a0from other countries.\u00a0We believe that diplomacy and trade negotiations are a preferable course of action to resolve trade imbalances as opposed to\u00a0the\u00a0implementation of\u00a0tariffs.\u201d<\/p>\n Trump made protecting American industry a keystone to his campaign in 2016. \u201cIt will be American steel that will fortify America\u2019s crumbling bridges,<\/em>\u201d he said while campaigning. Steel is especially important in some swing states like Pennsylvania that helped get Trump elected. Steel employment has fallen from nearly 650,000 workers in the 1950s to about 140,000 today. Closed steel mills litter the Midwest and many producers believe that can be blamed on other countries \u201cdumping\u201d cheap steel into the U.S. market.<\/p>\nBIFMA sends letter to President Trump<\/h4>\n
Steelcase disagrees on tariffs<\/h4>\n