At Veryable, we’re committed to being your trusted source for information & insights about the many changes taking place under Trump 2.0 and the ongoing trade war.
Our goal with these weekly recap articles is to provide you a quick summary of all of the most important developments from the week that you should be aware of. If you’re looking for more tailored advice, and want to hear how how others in the industry are navigating these changes, check out our new podcast: U.S. Manufacturing Today Podcast.
Compared with the last two weeks, this one was a bit less eventful, relatively speaking. However there were still no shortage of new developments that business leaders should be aware of.
In this week’s article, topics covered include:
As we wrote about in last week’s recap article, more than 75 countries reached out to negotiate after Trump’s reciprocal tariff plan was unveiled on April 2nd. This was one of the main reasons that the White House decided to pause these reciprocal tariffs for 90 days.
While Trump has expressed willingness to lift the tariffs if other countries give him what he wants, he’s also stated that he’s in no rush to do so, citing the millions in revenue that these tariffs are already bringing in. Israel and Vietnam have actually both already offered to zero out their tariff rates, but Trump has been noncommittal as to whether that would be sufficient. As Peter Navarro recently pointed out, 'it’s the non-tariff cheating that matters’. The administration also stated that they plan to ask trade partners to disallow China to ship goods through their countries and prevent Chinese firms from setting up shop within their borders in an attempt to avoid the tariffs.
But even if trade partners are able to reach an agreement with Trump and the reciprocal tariffs are reduced somewhat, it will still help decrease the trade deficit and be a major win overall for the U.S. manufacturing sector. Given the tariffs other countries have been charging the U.S. are roughly twice what the Trump administration would charge in most cases, this would make American products significantly more competitive in these foreign markets.
While no specifics haven't been announced yet, here’s a few countries that negotiations are currently underway with. Click to learn more about each.
While the trade war with China has quickly escalated over the past few weeks, it looks like there could be a potential end in sight. On Thursday evening while speaking with reporters at the white house, President Trump stated that Chinese officials have been calling a lot since last week in hopes of starting talks. He also said he was reluctant to increase the tariffs any further as it would do nothing but stall a trade deal - which will come as a sigh of relief for many.
With that being said, Trump didn't confirm whether he's actually talked to Xi or not. He did say however that: "I would think over the next three or four weeks, I think maybe the whole thing could be concluded,".
While it's too early to tell what the specifics of this deal might entail, given that China is the third largest trade partner of the U.S., any new trade deal will have drastic impacts on the U.S. manufacturing & distribution sectors as well as the global economy. We'll be discussing this more in next week's recap article.
Also on Thursday, the White House announced plans to introduce port fees targeting Chinese vessels. But given that the fees are expected to remain at zero until October 14th, we won't dive into the specifics in this article. If you want to read more about this, click here.
While the Trump administration has repeatedly stated plans over the past few months to implement additional sector-specific tariffs on pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, lumber, and copper, the timing has remained unclear.
On Monday however, The Trump administration announced it had opened an investigation into the effects on national security of importing certain pharmaceuticals and semiconductors, a move widely seen as the prelude to initiating tariffs.
While these investigations typically take 6+ months, the filings published on Wednesday set a 21-day deadline for the submission of public comment on the issue, indicating this will happen much faster than normal.
The administration has already launched investigations into copper and lumber starting in March, however the timing of these is still very much up in the air. Similar investigations carried out in Trump’s first term also formed the basis for the tariffs on imported vehicles and steel & aluminum that have already gone into effect.
Again - still no date set in stone for when these will be implemented, however this new development indicates that these will likely be announced within the month.
Another development that we haven't covered in previous weeks but that will still have major impacts on the manufacturing sector is the passing of the joint budget resolution. Both the house and senate have now approved the resolution. This a huge step forward as to enact legislation through the party-line reconciliation process (passed by a simple majority in both chambers), as both chambers need to adopt identical budget resolutions. This now sets the stage for President Trump’s signing of the “one big, beautiful bill.” Reports indicate that the goal is to have the tax legislation on President Trump’s desk by Memorial Day. However, the process could last longer as Republicans in both chambers work to craft legislation that conforms to the resolution and iron out remaining differences.
So what are some of the proposals we’ll see? First, a reduction in the corporate tax rate—down to 20%, and even 15% for companies that manufacture products in the U.S. We’ll also see the restoration of first-year deductions for research and development expenses for domestic manufacturers. Another big one: the elimination of taxes on overtime pay. These are major developments, and will provide a major boost for the manufacturing sector.
We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again. These times are unlike anything any of us have ever lived through, and regardless of what anyone says, nobody really knows what’s on the table for the rest of 2025 and beyond. If we’ve learned anything over the past 3 months, it’s that things can and will change in the blink of an eye. That’s why being agile has never been more of a competitive advantage. Right now, many business leaders are hesitant to take action and want to wait and see how things play out with the tariffs before doing so. It’s understandable really - a couple poor projections could mean disaster, especially for one of the many small to medium sized U.S. manufacturers who make up the majority of the sector. But as Sustainment CEO & Co-Founder Bret Boyd points out in Episode 5 of the U.S. Manufacturing Today Podcast, “when it’s obvious that this whole reindustrialization movement is on track, it will probably be too late”. This presents massive opportunities for those who can move first.
That’s where Veryable comes into play.
The thousands of manufacturers and distributors with a Veryable workforce in place have the ability to react instantly to changing market conditions and scale their workforce up drastically in just 1-2 days. And with the ability to instantly dial back, these businesses don’t have to worry about margin erosion if demand dips for a day or a week. This provides a massive competitive advantage. While other companies wait until it’s safe to take action and then have to spend weeks or longer trying to scale up with new hires, Veryable users already did.
To learn more about how this approach can help you gain a first-movers advantage and win the next few quarters and beyond, check out this article or contact us.
In addition to these weekly recap articles, we’ve recently launched our U.S. Manufacturing Today Podcast. Hosted by our Head of Reindustrialization Matt Horine, this podcast intends to help you cut through the noise you’re seeing across constructed narratives and provide clarity around these once in a generation policy shifts and their impact on the U.S. manufacturing sector.
This week’s episode featured Bret Boyd, CEO & Co-Founder of Sustainment. In addition to discussing Bret’s extensive experience in the manufacturing and supply chain sectors and what inspired him to create the Sustainment supplier management software, the discussion covers the current state of U.S. manufacturing, challenges faced by smaller manufacturers, how software can enhance supply chain efficiency, and the importance of localized supplier networks. You can find this episode here on our website, or on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, YouTube, or PocketCasts.
For more information on the changes taking place under Trump 2.0, make sure to check out our “Navigating Trump 2.0” page. Here you’ll find a breakdown of what’s happened so far and what’s potentially to come, as well as a plethora of blog articles laying out how manufacturers and distributors can thrive in this moment in time.
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