Investor relations professionals recently offered IR Impact readers some advice on tackling the unpredictable
After weeks of warnings, Donald Trump finally revealed his full suite of new industry tariffs from the White House lawn on Wednesday.
Announcing the slew of trade measures as ‘Liberation Day’, the US president said that the economic policies would mark the day American industry was ‘reborn’ and the day the country was ‘made wealthy again’.
For many IROs, it will herald a period of volatility and uncertainty as they scramble to find out what the implications of those moves will be on their companies.
As my colleague Garnet Roach found out when she spoke to IROs about tariffs last month, there is only so much that you can say for certain.
‘I can’t predict – all we can do is prepare,’ said Ford’s executive director of IR, Lynn Tyson, saying that, rather than giving uncertain answers about the future, the best strategy is to stick to the facts and give numbers wherever possible.
Ford will undoubtedly be affected by the overnight 25 percent tariff on all cars made outside of the US. Trump said explicitly that the automaker ‘sells very little’ of its US-made vehicles overseas, something he hopes to rectify.
An autoworker invited to speak on the podium next to him, known only as ‘Brian from Michigan’, said that the policies would reinvigorate investment in the US industry and that he and his fellow union members had given Trump their full support. Similar packages are planned for various farming industries, including for beef producers.
‘The US cannot continue with a unilateral policy of economic surrender,’ Trump finished by saying. ‘We have to take care of our people and we have to take care of our people first.’
But as I write this from a snowy Toronto, where we’re preparing to welcome our Canadian readers to the IR Impact Forum – Canada, it is clear that there will be many knock-on effects felt around the world, many unheeded by the Trump administration.
Some of those will be felt in shockwaves through reciprocal tariffs, as threatened by the UK, EU and other countries should Trump target their markets.
Others won’t be known for some time, as the gears of the real economy slowly churn and process these changes.
And with some leading US politicians already signaling that some of the planned tariffs – such as those for Canada – may face resistance from legislators, there is no sure route ahead.
As always, IROs will have the unenviable job of trying to parse these big shifts for their stakeholder audiences. We’ll do our best to help you achieve that monumental task in the following days and weeks.
In the meantime, what is your immediate reaction to the package of tariffs? Let us know on LinkedIn or email us at [email protected].
