A New Kind of Threat

A new kind of threat – daily economic threats – from Washington. D.C.

A new kind of threat has emerged in recent times that is political in nature. In previous administrations, business threats were more related to policy changes over the long term. That was handled by companies which planned for changes by developing corporate strategies. We are now facing a new threat for business – sudden changes such as threats to close the border with Mexico. The US Chamber of Commerce and other business groups are in an uproar, as the threat came out of nowhere. The potential losses to US business will be in billions of dollars on a daily business.

I am not talking about avocados for people who love making avocado toast! They can deal with it.

For one, auto parts coming into the US for the assembly of cars in the US will stop and pretty much shutdown auto plants in the country. There is a misconception that somehow those parts can be made locally, but US plants are already running at full capacity, and with labor shortages, parts makers are not able to expand capacity in the short term. If cars and trucks are not made, then there will be layoffs, and the impact will be felt in all cities as auto sales will fall, though it will help reduce bloated inventories for some models. We all hope that sane minds will prevail.