STROUTON, Wisconsin – Wisconsin businesses are preparing for an impact in President Donald Trump’s executive order, which implements a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports.
One of those businesses is the Stoughton trailer. The company has been manufacturing semi-trailers for over 60 years.
Bob Wallin is the company’s president and CEO. He said his company has already seen the impact of tariffs on its business in the past.
“If there is tariffs on new products coming into the US, it could raise prices in the US,” Warlin said. “That’s why indirect pricing increases.”
Warin said Stoughton’s trailer uses a large amount of steel and aluminum every day. Most of them are sourced in the US, but some are imported from overseas.
Warin said things could get complicated after Trump’s latest tariffs.
“Sometimes, tariffs can make the material more difficult to source, it can be more difficult to get, and it may be expensive,” he said. “We have to work with our customers on those things.”
Warlin said prices may rise in the short term, but he hopes it will bring more, higher wage manufacturing jobs to the US.
“We need to be able to build our own products, bring those jobs, bring those automation, bring those investments, build them here in America,” he said.
Some economists believe tariffs could lead to higher inflation, but Warlin said it was a burden he and his business are willing to take on.
“It’s something we sometimes want to embrace and even absorb. It’s a greater benefit to bring jobs and rebuild this important industry with both US steel and aluminum,” he said. said.
