‘Tariff Therapy Oasis’ room offered at Denver business conference

Businesses involved with international exchange don t need to agree with the tariff policies of the Trump administration a large number of seemingly don t But they should try to understand the thinking behind them and why they are likely here to stay So bargain deals are something that can help adjust the tariffs but again seems really sticky at the moment Penelope Naas a exchange expert with the German Marshall Fund communicated a Denver crowd during lunch at World Business Day She was introduced as a tariffologist Tariffs are such a stressful topic that the World Deal Center sponsor of the annual event offered a Tariff Therapy Oasis room for attendees Naas put up a clip of a New York Times advertisement that Donald Trump purchased in to criticize deal deficits In repeated interviews over the years he has used the same language about the country being ripped off and people taking advantage of the U S or failing to pay for their fair share for military defense Trump promotes four key benefits from higher tariffs Naas mentioned They will reduce the country s arrangement deficit encourage more domestic manufacturing create political leverage over trading partners and companies and generate revenues for the country which can be used to reduce budget deficits or fund other priorities such as the tax cuts the House approved this week Despite his strong convictions Trump can be swayed by the fallout his supporters are facing the opinions of CEOs he respects and complaints from Republican members of Congress not to mention the action of the bond markets explained Naas who urged businesses to lobby their political representatives so they understand the hit they are taking When JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon warned on May on Fox News that the tariffs could crash the business activity the administration communicated a -day pause on reciprocal tariffs the next day she stated When the CEO of Walmart warned about empty store shelves because of tariffs of on Chinese goods the administration declared a deal to reduce them to for days Apple CEO Tim Cook s Oval Office visit which was likely used to point out how iPhones couldn t be produced easily outside of China resulted in a high tariff exclusion for smartphones and other electronic goods made in China And the influence can also work in the other direction A tariff on movies produced outside the U S seemingly came out of the blue but it followed a meeting Trump had with actor and producer Jon Voight who advocated for the levy to protect Hollywood Canada the European Union and China have strategically used Trump s concern for his base to target tariffs on specific products such as rice from Louisiana and bourbon from Kentucky Their pushback has also thwarted expectations for a quick resolution More than countries have been hit with reciprocal tariffs But agreement deals are complicated and can take a long time to work out The administration has identified itself understaffed in terms of having the quota to reach so a great number of agreements at the same time Naas commented The end championship however appears to be a reset of the bargain relationship between the U S and China which is pushing to become a top military power under President Xi Jinping and has come to dominate manufacturing globally China has taken over manufacturing around the world and while they consume about of what they make they export about And that is taking over and damaging every country s manufacturing Naas announced Related Articles Michelin-recommended French restaurant closing in LoHi after years Layoffs furloughs coming for Denver employees amid budget dilemma mayor says Colorado is part of lawsuits and counting against Trump Here s what AG Phil Weiser says is behind the strategy Colorado businesses welcome d tente with China but still worry about the future Idaho farmers and our small soundness products company will struggle even with Trump s tariff rate Opinion The U S is especially vulnerable to disruptions from China when it comes to smartphones computer monitors video match consoles potential storage systems baby carriages toys and recreational gear China is also a dominant supplier of the ingredients needed to create antibiotics and of rare earth minerals China s military is not strong enough yet to defeat the U S and Europe To compensate the country has adopted an approach to make any enemy blind deaf and dumb in the first hours of an outbreak of war Naas noted Chinese electronic products such as routers from TP-Link have reportedly been used to launch cyberattacks by Chinese state actors Naas mentioned electronic products from China have been identified with embedded kill switches that can t be explained by any benign intent including in recent months in solar power systems Get more business news by signing up for our Business sector Now newsletter