Navigating Tariffs: Lessons for Manufacturers Learned From COVID-19

As of mid-April of this year, the U.S. had imposed or threatened tariffs on a wide range of goods, including 25% on many imports from Canada and Mexico, 145% on all Chinese imports, and a global 25% on aluminum and steel. In response, Canada, Mexico, the European Union, and China introduced retaliatory tariffs.Tariff policies under the new Trump administration have changed rapidly. Initially, the 25% tariffs with Mexico and Canada applied to all goods. Two days later, they were limited to goods that don’t fall under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). Additionally, the U.S. briefly imposed a 50% tariff on Canadian steel, before reducing it to 25%, after Canada removed a retaliatory excise tax on energy exports. There were also unspecified agricultural and automotive tariffs potentially set for April.The situation is unpredictable, to say the least, and it’s difficult to foresee how tariff policy will evolve over the coming months. But as potentially disruptive as they ar...