Huron Chamber of Commerce Responds to Trump’s Trade War

by Bob Montgomery

The Executive Director of the Huron Chamber of Commerce says it might seem difficult for Huron County residents to have any impact on Donald Trump's trade war with the rest of the world.

But, Colin Carmichael says there are things we can do to support Huron County businesses. Carmichael says we can do that by not getting too wrapped in labels on products, things like made in, or packaged in or assembled in different countries. He suggests if we're buying something in Huron County, we're supporting Huron County's economy regardless of where that product was manufactured or grown or built. Carmichael concedes it is important that we support Canadian manufacturers, but many of the franchisees of large American corporations are local Canadian entrepreneurs who are running businesses and employing Canadians locally.

Carmichael says the Canadian Chamber has a great tool that measures the impact of trade relationships at the national and provincial level and what they're trying to do is get a handle on what the immediate impact will be locally. And that will depend on what Donald Trump does, and when. If there are layoffs at Canadian Manufacturing operations because orders aren't coming in, because of the tariffs, that starts to affect our retailers and the hospitality sector because people aren't spending their money. And, he says, we're already starting to see that because of the impact the threat and uncertainty of tariffs is having and some employers have started to scale back their hiring for the next couple of months.

Carmichael says it's very difficult for business owners to expand their business when the future is so uncertain.