Pulse Check: Trade and Manufacturing
Paul D. Nathanson and Joshua C. Zive, senior principals in Bracewell’s Policy Resolution Group, discuss the future of trade and manufacturing under a new Trump administration. Learn more from our website https://www.bracewell.com/resources/p...
Transcript:
Joshua Zive: Well, election night was certainly something for those of us who follow international trade policy closely. After years of trade policy feeling like a largely forgotten sibling in the family of political issues, over the last year trade policy has been front and center in the presidential election, and with President Trump's election last night, we are promised to have quite an active coming few months and years when it comes to changes in tariffs and other parts of trade policy. I know that over the past couple of decades, our team here at Bracewell, Paul Nathanson and myself have worked through a lot of different situations surrounding tariffs, including situations involving a President Trump and tariffs. So we have some idea of kind of what to expect and how to roll with the punches, as it were, but you know, Paul, let me ask you a question. With everything people have heard about trade over the last month, you know, or last year, I should say, what can people really expect in terms of what's at play that could actually be changed in trade policy by a President Trump?
Paul Nathanson: Well, a heck of a lot, because, you know, trade policy and the decision to impose tariffs really resides with the executive branch, with little congressional oversight. Congress has ceded that power, as we saw during the first Trump administration with the steel and aluminum tariffs and the 301 tariffs on China. I think anybody who is involved in international trade needs to go out and go on Amazon or go to your library and read No Trade Is Free: Changing Course, Taking on China, and Helping America's Workers by Bob Lighthizer, who was the USTR ambassador and under Trump, and whose book really lays out what the Trump trade policy is, which is basically threatening tariffs or imposing tariffs for a variety of reasons.
Joshua Zive: That’s right. I mean, I know Paul that from Section 301 listing to Section 232, tariffs died to national security, to anti-dumping and countervailing duties that are placed on imported products. It seems like there's no end of levers that are at the disposal of an executive branch. So let me ask you, is there anything, I mean, given that all of this is coming, and we've seen this before, is this just a fait accompli? You've worked with companies that have been in the crosshair tariffs for a long time. Let's start with a from a public relations standpoint. Is there something companies should be doing to prepare for this?
Paul Nathanson: Well, sure. You know, as we just talked about steel and aluminum tariffs, they were imposed during the first Trump administration. But the steel producers understand that having your voice heard in Washington is very important. You know, as supply chains are going to run through Washington, and you know, there is just no doubt about it that tariffs are here to stay and that there will be additional tariffs. But Josh, there's all sorts of things that happen with tariffs that companies, in addition to making sure that their voice is heard here by meeting with their representatives and with the administration, that they should consider in this new world, or continuing world of tariffs.
See the full transcript from our website https://www.bracewell.com/resources/p...
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