BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — President-elect Donald Trump has said he will sign an executive order when he takes office that would impose a 25% tariff on all goods imported from Canada and Mexico and an additional 10% tariff on goods from China.
I spoke with three local experts about how the potential tariffs might impact businesses and consumers here in Western New York.
Tom Kucharski, president and CEO of Invest Buffalo Niagara, said Western New York may be uniquely situated to benefit because of its existing relationship to Canada.
“There's two sides of every tariff story," said Kucharski. "And so while it may impact our trade partners, it certainly would promote more things being made domestically…Being where we are in our region and where we're located, I think we have a chance to fare very well.”
Bob Confer, president of Confer Plastics which manufactures kayaks, steps and other items for above-ground pools, said he’s of two minds — it could raise prices of everyday items, but it could also help cut down on counterfeit and copied goods made in China.
“So they wouldn't have the ability to buy as many as our products as they're focusing as buying necessities," said Confer. "Tariffs could bring more business our way if they did have that buying power for the fact that there would be fewer rip-offs or imitations of our products out there in the marketplace that are so common nowadays.”
Scott Laing, clinical assistant professor in the Finance Department of the University at Buffalo’s School of Management, said people in Buffalo would feel the impact of tariffs on their grocery bills and at automotive plants.
“The ramifications of a 25% tariff are rather large," said Laing. "We import a significant amount of crops from Mexico. Think avocados, bell peppers, tomatoes. And then on the Canadian side, we import a lot of equipment and parts for assembly lines in the automobile manufacturing. And here in Buffalo, we have the GM plant, we have the Ford plant.”
