Business owners, consumers and elected officials are bracing for the impact of new tariffs that will cost Vermonters an estimated $1 billion a year, according to State Treasurer Mike Pieciak.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced new tariffs on foreign goods in some of Vermont鈥檚 biggest export markets, such as China, India and Trinidad and Tobago.
Pieciak said Thursday that the seismic shift in trade policy will, according to , cost the average Vermont household about $3,800 annually.
鈥淭rump鈥檚 so-called 鈥楲iberation Day鈥� is supposed to free American from imported goods,鈥� Pieciak said in a statement. 鈥淏ut in reality, it鈥檚 just freeing Vermonters from their hard-earned money and hitting low-income individuals the hardest.鈥�
The estimated $1 billion in direct costs to consumers does not include the potential economic losses to businesses that buy and sell goods and materials in foreign markets. Bill Sargent, who鈥檚 been in the forest products industry for more than 50 years, said many timber sellers were blocked from selling to China last month in response to changes in U.S. trade policy.
Sargent, a Shaftsbury resident who owns Hollow Hill Forestry Log and Timber Marketing, had found a new buyer in Vietnam. But he said the 46% tariff that Trump has now imposed on exports from that country could lead to a retaliatory strike on timber from Vermont.
鈥淚t used to be very, very simple. When I got out of school, every little town in the state of Vermont had a sawmill, and the lumber was marketed very locally,鈥� Sargent told 开云体育 on Thursday. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 not the case anymore 鈥� We market logs all over the world.鈥�
Megan Sullivan, vice president of government affairs for the Vermont Chamber of Commerce, said Vermont businesses into the global market in 2024. The tariffs announced by Trump this week, she said, threaten to shrink access to those foreign markets.
鈥淎nd exports are critical for the economy, right? This is where we鈥檙e sending products out and bringing money in,鈥� Sullivan said. 鈥淭hat is a huge benefit to the economy when we are bringing money in from outside the state of Vermont. That is how the state runs.鈥�
The start and stop that鈥檚 been going on with tariffs has been incredibly challenging for businesses being able to make those informed decisions.Megan Sullivan, Vermont Chamber of Commerce
Sullivan said the latest developments will do little to ease the uncertainty that was already affecting business operations in Vermont in advance of Trump鈥檚 announcement. Companies that do business outside the U.S., she said, still have no idea how countries targeted with new tariffs will respond.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e planning your production, when you鈥檙e planning what your business growth or new industries you want to move into are going to be, you need to have economic certainty,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd the start and stop that鈥檚 been going on with tariffs has been incredibly challenging for businesses being able to make those informed decisions.鈥�
Republican Gov. Phil Scott on Wednesday called Trump鈥檚 tariff policy 鈥渃ounterintuitive.鈥�
鈥淲e obviously have a right to defend ourselves in some respects in a trade situation, a trade war. But we started this one,鈥� Scott said. 鈥淚 think his rhetoric is hurting our economy at this point. Maybe in time we鈥檒l see the merits of all this, but it鈥檚 hard to see that at this point.鈥�
Dave Laforce, the CEO of Built by Newport, a second-generation family-owned business in Orleans County that specializes in high-end furniture, said his company hasn鈥檛 seen any hit to its bottom line yet.
鈥淏ut it鈥檚 inevitable. It鈥檚 going to happen,鈥� Laforce said. 鈥淭he biggest thing is the just the uncertainty of all of it. It鈥檚 very difficult to plan anything because we really don鈥檛 know what鈥檚 going to happen, which is extremely frustrating.鈥�
Laforce said the drawer slides he sources from outside the U.S., for example, might contain different components from different countries with different tariffs.
鈥淎ll of those layers have potential different tariffs, so everybody鈥檚 trying to figure out, OK, what鈥檚 the new price going to be? Which in business makes it very difficult,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 hard enough to run a business, but then to have all these distractions makes it even harder.鈥�
