Trade uncertainty makes it “really difficult” for Utah Business

While the companies in Utah deal with trade wars and uncertainties in connection with the tariffs, two former secretaries of the state -including Donald Trump’s former top diplomat -say that the president needs a clearer vision and news about what he tries to fulfill with his exciting trade tasks.

“President Trump was not clear here that his general strategic goal is here,” Mike Pompeo told the “CrossRoads of the World” forum sponsored by Zions Bank and World Trade Center Utah.

“He talked about using tariffs for fentanyl and not keeping it out of the country. He talked about the balancing of trade. He talked about bilateral trade deficits,” said Pompeo on Wednesday. The uncertainty and the lack of a clear purpose for the tariffs harms the business, he continued.

Pompeo’s feeling was repeated by Antony Blellen, Foreign Minister under the former President Joe Biden.

“The first question that we all have to ask and continue to ask: What is the intention? What is the purpose? What is the goal?” Said flashing and spoke in the forum on Thursday.

The tariffs were presented as a means of increasing the income, the production to the USA, the stop -fenanyl and the deletion of trade deficits – none of them, said flashing, added up.

High tariffs hinder the trade; The conversion of the production facilities takes years and a stable economy. And almost no fentanyl comes from places like Canada to the USA. And, said flashing, the USA must have some countries and surpluses with other trade deficits, which is not necessarily bad and is not determined by tariffs.

“I think these renowned tariffs are a recipe for a downward spiral,” he told Utah Business Leaders.

Trump imposed a global tariff of 10% for all imports and a tariff of 25% on steel, aluminum, cars and some auto parts. China in particular was geared towards an obligation of 145% for all imports, and China has issued its own mutual tariff.

But the president freely freed certain products such as mobile phones and paused the tariffs for 90 days while the government is trying to work on trade agreements. The Finance Minister of Trump, Scott Bessent and sales representative, is expected to have trading talks in Switzerland this week that the two nations have held trade talks.

“We feel the pain”

On Thursday, Trump announced a temporary trade agreement with Great Britain, the largest trading partner in Utah, as a new report by the KEM C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah.

The institute reported that Utah sent goods worth 7.9 billion US dollars in Great Britain last year, the vast majority of them in gold. In total, Utah exported $ 18.2 billion in goods in 2024 and imported $ 21.9 billion. The exports supported 70,171 jobs.

According to the report, Trump’s tariffs will probably increase the costs of goods for Utahns and influence the state’s housing market, since the costs for imported wood and other supplies increase and a larger part of the household income of the residents covers other expenses.

The Roiling Trading War, the tumbling introduction of tariffs and the uncertainty where they will land in a few months, have proven to be difficult for companies in Utah, the managers announced on Wednesday.

“Traeger is in the middle of the Bullseye of everything that is bad in global trade,” said Jeremy Andrus, CEO from Traeger Grills, who receives about 75% of his grills from China and uses a lot of non-steel.

When tariffs were 10%, Andrus said, it was manageable. But as soon as the rate reached 125%, it was a shock.

“We feel the pain,” said Andrus. “It’s really difficult for us at the moment, but it’s an interesting moment.”

Lindsay Shumlas, CEO of Cotopaxi, said her company moved a large part of its production from China during the Covid pandemic, but it now produces products in Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, India and the Philippines as well as some remains in China.

“The most difficult part is the uncertainty, the uncertainty of what will happen after (July 8),” she said, when the break is to run on tariffs, she said. Cotopaxi is currently working on his 2027 line, said Shumlas. “How do we create future supply chains?”

According to CEO Brian Garofalow, the story was similar to Skullcandy, the headphone manufacturer based in Utah. Skullcandy moved a large part of his production from China to Vietnam during the first Trump office, which could give the company an advantage over competitors, depending on where the tariffs end up.

The approval of resources for investments to “play crimes”, said Garofalow, was a challenge. “We do not know whether Vietnam will return to 46%or decrease up to 146%. So we essentially have plans that are everything from accelerating growth to cutting to the bone.”

Parker, President of PMI Foods, a global food sales company with offices on six continents, said his company was forced to adapt. Instead of exporting US meat to China, it would make it available to its Chinese customers, for example, meat from Australia that would not be exposed to the steep tariffs.

“It is terrible for the US department. It is terrible, especially for China. In the other markets, we still import around 10%here and there. I think we can handle it,” said Parker. “The elimination of the (Chinese) market completely. That is simply not sustainable.”

For Wavetronix that produces traffic radar systems, “our Chinese business has dried out,” said John Hortin, Chief Financial Officer of the company. So far, Hortin said, the damage has the advantages “in particular the way it was administered. Uncertainty is the biggest problem with which we are confronted.”

Kimberly Honeysett, Chief Legal Officer of Varex Imaging, which medical devices produces, said that the company tried to re -evaluate its supply chain and diversify its suppliers, but this can be a challenge from a regulatory point of view.

“We work in a heavily regulated medical industry and are therefore not easy to shoot,” she said, “because components have to be deleted and verified.”

Robert Spendlove, a senior economist at Zions Bank and the former legislature of the state, said that he heard of more than one CEO of Utah that “this will be the end of us. This is an existential threat to which we cannot adapt.”

But Pompeo and Utah’s managers said they believe that normality will return.

Pompeo said that Trump “misunderstood it” by initially pursuing such an aggressive approach to tariffs, suspects that the administration will refine its approach over time.

“I hope (you) will concentrate on our opponents – the Communist Party of the Chinese Communist, the Iranians, the Russians – and friends friends with the Canadians and the important supply chain, which runs through Mexico, our partners in Europe, Japan and Asia,” said Pompeo. “These are people who add enormous value and create prosperity for America, and we should be very careful to annoy them, and we should make sure that they don’t treat us badly either.”

Parker with PMI food said it was simply not possible that the United States will separate China’s economy, but it could take some time for this knowledge to be used.

“I think we just have to calm down, see how it will work. Cooler heads will prevail,” he said. “I bet, in a few weeks we feel much different in terms of things.”