STOUGHTON, Wis. — President Donald Trump’s executive order implementing a 25% tariff on steel and aluminum imports has Wisconsin businesses preparing for impact.
One of those businesses is Stoughton Trailers. The company has manufactured semi-trailers for over 60 years.
Bob Wahlin is the company’s president and CEO. He said his company has already seen the impact of tariffs on business in the past.
“When tariffs are put on new product coming into the U.S., that may raise U.S. prices,” Wahlin said. “So, we get that indirect pricing increase.”
Wahlin said Stoughton Trailers uses tons of steel and aluminum every day. Most of it is sourced in the United States, but some is imported from abroad.
Wahlin said things might get complicated after Trump’s latest round of tariffs.
“At times, the tariffs may make material more difficult to source, more difficult to get our hands on, might be higher prices,” he said. “We have to work with our customers on those things.”
Wahlin said while prices may increase in the short term, he’s hopeful it will bring more, higher paying manufacturing jobs back to the U.S.
“We need to be able to build our own product, bring those jobs, bring that automation, bring that investment and build it right here in the United States,” he said.
While some economists believe the tariffs could lead to higher inflation, Wahlin said that’s a burden he and his business are willing to shoulder.
“That’s something we’re willing to take at times, even absorb, for the greater good of bringing jobs and rebuilding this critical industry in both steel and aluminum in the United States,” he said.