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For consumer products giant Newell Brands (NWL), the business of making Sharpie pens, Graco baby car seats, and Rubbermaid food storage supplies will likely be costlier as Trump tariffs take effect.
Its CEO would tell the president that very story if they met.
“I would tell him that I think tariffs play an important role. I’m not against tariffs. I think tariffs are better applied selectively for strategic categories than universally, is my personal point of view. I think there are critical industries that are important to rebuild in the US, and I think there are other industries that may be less important to rebuild in the US,” Newell Brands CEO Chris Peterson told me on Yahoo Finance’s Opening Bid podcast (watch above; listen in below).
Peterson had just joined Newell Brands as CFO in 2018 during the first Trump administration, after operational stints at Revlon, Ralph Lauren (RL), and Procter & Gamble (PG). He is currently a board member of retailer BJ’s Wholesale (BJ), a competitor to Costco (COST) and Walmart’s (WMT) Sam’s Club.
Newell has invested $2 billion in US manufacturing since the 2017 Trump tax cuts went into effect. Even still, it relies on China for more than 10% of its sourcing, Mexico for 5%, and a small amount from Canada. The company may rationalize its Mexico manufacturing capacity if the tariffs remain in place for an extended period of time, Peterson noted.
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He said the Trump tariff climate is different this time around.
“In the first Trump administration, there were tariffs put on China, but he also went through a process where there was an exclusion process and the ability for companies to go and petition to have certain product categories exempted so that the tariffs were applied more selectively as opposed to universally,” Peterson recalled.
“In this administration, there’s a different focus, I think, on the tariff discussion where the administration is looking at trade imbalances and trying to use tariffs against many different companies in a more universal fashion. And so that has created, at least in the short term, a lot more uncertainty.”
The uncertainty on tariffs among the C-suite is well deserved.
The Trump administration imposed 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico last Tuesday. Trump abruptly suspended goods that comply under the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) two days later but hinted that tariffs on each country would happen in April. Noncompliant goods are currently subject to the new tariffs.
