A new survey says businesses across northern Michigan are concerned about uncertainty of the White House's tariff policies.
A poll of 214 businesses from the Northern Michigan Chamber Alliance says 52.3% of their members expect "significant negative impact" from tariffs. 41.6% of those surveyed expect minimal or no impact and 6.1% expect positive impact.
The survey also says 48.6% expect minimal or no impact on sales and 43.9% expect a drop in revenue. 7.5 % say they expect positive impact.
Haley Bennett is the director of government relations at the Alliance. She says businesses are wrestling with price shocks caused by increased duties.
“Tariffs are a tool…we're not saying that tariffs are outright a bad idea,” she said. “It's just the way things are so rapidly changing is making it extremely difficult to keep up with."
Bennett added that while many members support increased domestic manufacturing, they'd also like more clarity for planning. She also said that sufficient domestic supply chains may not currently exist for certain products.
“That includes a lot of retail products, clothes, home goods, even stores that import goods like teas…coffee shops, there are a number of products that just can't be sourced domestically,” Bennett said.
The White House has scaled back and amended many of its tariff policies, at times to exempt products, and because of new trade agreements. They say tariffs will lead to widespread reshoring of industries, and new jobs.
On the employment front, 84.6% of companies surveyed say they don’t expect significant or any impact on hiring. 14% expect negative impacts, and 1.4% expect positive impacts.
Bennet said that Chamber members are trying to operate lean and “keep expenses low,” as they await new developments. “That’s concerning for us, we want to see business grow. We want to see people moving to the area, finding good paying jobs,” she said.
The Alliance polled companies in retail, nonprofit, construction and agricultural sectors.
