ROUNDTABLE
OCH: With Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th president of the United States, how do you expect his administration’s policies to shape the future of American manufacturing, particularly when it comes to key factors such as competitiveness, supply chains and domestic investment? Eric Factor: Under the new administration, we expect to see a significant shift away from outsourcing and back to manufacturing in the US. While this may cause some short-term pain and supply chain whiplash for many of our customers, we believe the massive influx of domestic investment should drive growth in US domestic manufacturing output for decades to come.
Kiira Fröberg: As it is still early days for the administration, and directives are only now being issued, it is too early for us to speculate beyond noting the clear ambition to increase domestic investment, production and competitiveness. Doug Stitt: I have no doubt we can count on two things. Firstly, he will focus on America first. Secondly, the process will look and feel chaotic. You can say many things about Trump, but one of the positives is he focuses on the issues he ran on, and, in this case, he ran on jobs, manufacturing and reshoring as main parts of his agenda.
OCH: The trade tariffs proposed by Trump in the run-up to the election are likely to have a significant impact on the global trade landscape. How do you see these changes affecting not only your business, but also the broader manufacturing sector in terms of costs, supply chain resilience and international partnerships? EF: CraneTech is an American company exclusively focused on supporting American manufacturing and industry. There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty right now regarding what industries and geographies will be most impacted by tariffs. However, while some domestic manufacturers will see rising costs, we expect others to see even greater increases in domestic demand. Overall, we expect this to drive a tailwind for US industry that further propels our growth as a company. KF: No one wins if there is a trade war, and tariffs would impact us negatively – along with many other companies and sectors. On the other hand, none of our competitors has a full supply network based in the US, so we don’t see that tariffs would place us in a weaker position versus the competition. On a more general level, potential changes in supply chains have historically worked in our favour, because if production is relocated or trade routes are changed, new material handling equipment is usually needed. DS: It’s going to be a daily exercise to try to determine what’s a real long-term policy and
22 Spring 2025 |
ochmagazine.com
what’s negotiation. Trump will use tariffs as both a threat and a tool, depending on the country and circumstances. We already saw that with Columbia. We don’t import a lot of items, but primarily produce with domestic content, so it won’t impact us directly, though it will impact us indirectly as overall materials, for example, will change as import prices change.
OCH: Do you believe the administration’s focus on deregulation and economic nationalism will positively influence workforce development, attracting the next generation to careers in manufacturing and heavy industry? How important might this be in addressing the skills gap that is such a big issue in manufacturing? EF: Deregulation and economic nationalism are two factors that will drive domestic growth, but it will take more than just that to attract the next generation to critical careers in manufacturing and heavy industry. That is why we are investing aggressively in the training and development of our people and our customers, through our investment in – and expansion of – our crane school, the North American Crane Bureau. KF: We cannot speculate at this stage on what may happen to the workforce under the new administration. In the past, there have been challenges sometimes in recruiting service technicians due to a shortage of personnel, so if the administration’s policies can change that trend, we would welcome that, of course. DS: The short-term answer is it will help. It’s really a longer-term, commitment issue, though. To me, workforce development has to be a part of industrial policy and that needs to span one president's four-year term. America, and other countries, need to take a longer-term view of what’s needed in the future. America has not done well in this area.
OCH: The new administration’s policies will undoubtedly have a significant impact on the automotive sector, but which other industries do you expect to benefit most from the new stance taken by Trump? What factors will drive their growth following this shift in approach to regulatory and economic policy? EF: We have many customers that support critical US infrastructure. One clear early beneficiary will be the energy sector. We have a branch in Midland, Texas, where we expect to see significant growth as a result of the new administration’s policies. We also support over a hundred aerospace companies, and we expect the new space race to drive significant growth there. KF: As it is still early days for the administration, and directives are only now being issued, it is too early for us to speculate on this.
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