This company in Indiana is already feeling the heat from Trump's new tariffs
CNBC
4/2/2018
- Here's what happened to government cheeseThe U.S. has too much cheese – 1.4 billion pounds to be exact. In the 1980s, the USDA stepped in to help control volatile milk prices. Farmers started making way too much milk, which was turned into way too much cheese. At least 30 million pounds of it was distributed through nutrition assistance programs, and suddenly a block of surplus dairy product became a neatly packaged symbol of economic status known as “government cheese.”
CNBC
- Southwest Airlines faces 'operational emergency' with spike in out-of-service jetsSouthwest Airlines faces what its own managers call an operational state of "emergency" due to an unusually high number of Southwest Boeing 737s being taken out of service for maintenance. In a memo obtained by CBS News, the airline called for all hands on deck. The spike in out-of-service planes follows our CBS News investigation into mechanics' complaints of undue pressure to put aircraft back in service faster. Kris Van Cleave reports.
CBS News
- New tariffs to target imported vehicles and auto partsU.S.-China trade talks
Fox Business
Here's what happened to government cheese
CNBC10:01Southwest Airlines faces 'operational emergency' with spike in out-of-service jets
CBS News3:25New tariffs to target imported vehicles and auto parts
Fox Business5:38Here's the meaning behind all of those obscure Ikea product names
Business Insider2:07UK Lawmakers Say Facebook Intentionally Broke Data Privacy Laws
Newsy1:06JP Morgan to launch first bank-backed cryptocurrency
Next Media Animation via Reuters0:57Design-your-own 3D virtual Lamborghini
Reuters1:33Why your apps can find you, but 911 can't
The Wall Street Journal.5:56
How Ocasio-Cortez and others pushed Amazon out of New York
The Washington Post2:26Richard Branson says tax the rich more
Fox Business1:10Touring the 2019 Chicago Auto Show
CBS News3:22Here's how you can view free streaming TV
USA TODAY1:25The most audacious business move Mark Cuban ever mde
Inc.1:05Here's what NYC is losing after Amazon canceled HQ plans
CNBC1:47Clever tips to save on groceries
Money Talks News1:36Why Whole Foods raised its prices on hundreds of products
GOBankingRates1:03
However, some small businesses, like LOOK Trailers in Indiana, are feeling the heat from Trump's trade move.
Quotes in the article
LOOK's president, Matt Arnold, said the company has seen steel prices increase 25 percent and aluminum as high as 35 percent. He told CNBC that he's afraid his suppliers' prices have even further to run in the months ahead.
Although the company already uses 75 percent U.S. steel and aluminum, now its competitors are also moving from foreign to domestic steel. That's driving up the demand for steel producers domestically and adding costs to businesses' bottom lines.
Arnold said that the company has managed to honor fixed prices on committed orders, but that means they've been "getting hit and absorbing price increases and then pricing out three months."
He said the net effect has been the same on the whole industry in this area.
"Whether you're public or private the hit has been to your bottom line," Arnold said.
Trump has said he hopes shuttered steel mills will reopen and add new life into the American steel industry. But that process could take more than year, if not longer, leaving some businesses without enough U.S.-made steel and aluminum.
Arnold said another factor affecting his business is rising wages because of a tightening labor market.
"It's a battle every day. It's how to get more out per man hour. While battling rising wages, competitive workforce, and now you add the third one, which is rising raw materials. You have to be right today. There's no margin for error," he said.
The average cost of a trailer from LOOK is about $3500, which is already a 9 percent jump from 2017.
The last time the U.S. slapped major tariffs on steel imports, under President George W. Bush in 2002, companies like LOOK Trailers experienced a 10 to 15 percent hike in prices and a drop in sales. Businesses are hoping this time will be different.
CNBC
