New York/London (Reuters)-in recent months, many business executives have said that they were adopting a expected approach to United States President Donald Trump, wide rates threats. The first holidays’ earnings report show that many of them were not.
Automobiles such as General Motors and Mercedes, French manufacturers of French cognac and Italian producers of Parmesan cheese and sparkling wine have shake their deliveries in the United States. Meanwhile, basic product buyers increased steel, aluminum and soy purchases.
“We see that companies currently carry their imports to the United States,” said Patrick Lepperhoff, CEO of the Investo Investo Cologne Inverto.
“They have molded scenarios about the amount that could be affected by the rates and have decided on widespread importance of importing volumes in order to be covered for a certain time.”
Executives have described Reuters and at conferences shouting the challenges of an environment that Trump’s changing plans in Trump could increase world trade and promote some companies to move production to the United States.
Even before returning to the post this month, the uncertainty prompted companies to have a hurry. U.S. commercial deficit increased to a record of $ 122 million in December, as imports of goods increased by 4% and exports dropped by 4.5%.
Pacsun, who sells casual clothes for young adolescents and adults, is one of the many retailers who matter products.
CEO Brieane Olson told Reuters that the private company had provided some of its sales from the first quarter before the part of the contingency plans. It also has a “fare task” that meets twice a week to work with suppliers on the subject.
“Pacsun has a very proactive plan for what we can do to help our suppliers and vendors better,” said Olson.
Trump’s threats have gone from possible 100% to 200% rates in Mexico cars to universal rates of all imported goods.
Proof of its resolution will arrive on Saturday, when the President of the United States has said he plans to introduce duties on the imports of neighbors and main commercial partners Mexico and Canada.
Numerous sectors could be affected. The United States imported about $ 844 million in Canada and Mexico goods by 2024, approximately 28% of all imports, according to the United States Federal data.
The efforts to prepare have already given some companies a boost. The German chemical company Lanxess said that the benefits of the fourth quarter were significantly better than expected due to the advanced purchase of American customers.
Italian producers have sent more Parmigiano Reggiano cheese to the United States, according to the Industry Trade Association, which he said he hopes to obtain exemptions for their premium foods.
U.S. general imports of 20 -foot containers increased in November and December to the most popular from 2021.
Traders of Tampa and Houston bought steel in South Korea, Japan and Turkey, anticipating the rates on Trump’s first day in office, said Jose Severin of the Mercury Group, a consulting in the product supply chain. This left large amounts of steel in the warehouses and ports, causing the bottlenecks and increases the costs.
“We could re -supply the supply of our Canadian Foses in Europe. Although it is an advantage to have this optionality, it is certainly not a profit for our customers and supply chains like them,” said William Oplinger, CEO of ‘Alcoa, to investors earlier this month.
Assembly line
The automotive sector is especially exposed to Canada and Mexico, where many companies built factories to take advantage of relatively cheap work near the Lucrative North -American Market after the North -American Free Trade Agreement.
GM accelerated the shipping of their facilities in the fourth quarter.
“Each installment we can make before a rate is installed, it is much better … than sitting in the inventory,” said GM financial director Paul Jacobson.
All collections from the Toyota Motor Japanese Motor Motor Motor Motor Motor model, more than 200,000 units a year, come from Mexico. A person close to the company said before the November election that the rates could cause Toyota to move production to his San Antonio assembly plant, Texas.
About 40% of S&P revenues come from abroad, according to LSEG, data showing that the sectors with the highest exposure abroad (technology, discretionary consumer goods and industrialists) have talked more about chains. of supply and the route.
Picking dust?
Some companies do not advance orders without certainty for demand.
Private toy maker, MGA Entertainment, has not been sent into an additional product, according to CEO Isaac Larian, who said he had voted for Trump. Your key holiday season is over and the storage of additional inventories is expensive.
“The toy business is a fashion business. It changes all the time,” said Larian. “We can’t buy so many inventories in anticipation of homework.”
The drinks industry faces something similar, as sales fall into the sector. Some also burned when they were stored at the beginning of the President’s first term.
When Trump threatened the rates to Champagne in 2019. The North -American Importer Old Bridge Cellars (OBC) spent “a fortune” in a year of Fizz, said the company’s president, Rob Buono, only for stay with expensive actions when it was excluded from the rates.
This experience means that now I would only buy more if the rates are confirmed.
The OBC erased excess inventory during Covid, when supply problems meant that large champagne producers could not meet demand.
“We are lucky,” said Buono.
(Additional Reports of Jessica Dinapoli in New York, Kalea Hall of Detroit, Norihiko Shirouzu in Austin, and Divya Rajagopal in Toronto, Elisa Anzolin in Milan; writing from David Gaffen; editing by Josephine Mason and Catherine Evans))