This article was generated based on Lisa's fireside chat and Q&A with Laura Wilkin, Co-Chair Retail, CPG, Hospitality & Transportation Committee (RiCH)
WomenExecs on Boards and Melissa Roth Mendez, Founder & Global Brand Strategist at MRM Brand Advisory on Considerations for Board Directors | Post-US Elections. It was sponsored by Wo3menExecs on Board on February 4, 2025.
As we witness the fast-paced efforts of President Donald Trump in getting his administration’s executive orders and proposed policies front-and-center both here in the US and abroad, it is important for board members of public and private companies to have heightened awareness about how these actions will affect the companies they serve. This article focuses on some of his early executive orders that impact Corporate America. It does not cover the impact on financial services, fiscal policy, or geopolitics, and is not intended to be all-inclusive.
President Trump kicked off his inauguration day by signing a significant volume of executive orders intended to form the pillars of his “Make America Great Again” agenda, including many designed to reverse various Biden administration’s policies. These actions, if fully enacted, will have significant impact on a wide range of strategic, financial, and compliance considerations for many companies. This article focuses on the impact of five of the new administration policies that are likely to have the most overall influence on corporate America, and therefore, on the questions board members should be addressing to their respective executive teams from governance and advisory perspectives:
1. Immigration Policy - Stop illegal immigration at the border and deport illegal immigrants. Implementation of this policy has already commenced, and by February, thousands of undocumented migrants have been arrested and many deported to their home countries. According to the Pew Research Center, a total of 52% of migrant workers are in the agricultural, construction, hospitality, business services, and manufacturing industries. A crackdown on illegal immigration could result in severe labor shortages in these industries as well as impact the general retail and food sales in communities where migrants reside. Likely outcome for businesses: labor shortages, higher labor costs, and lower revenues for impacted businesses.
2. Trade Policy and Economic Relationships – Use tariffs as a way to negotiate with trading partners and security allies to extract concessions on national security, including halting illegal immigration and drug trafficking, trade imbalances, and access to markets. It is also intended to encourage US domestic manufacturing and to generate revenues for the US Treasury. The 25% tariff on all Canadian and Mexican goods and 10% tariff on Canadian oil imports have been paused for a month from February 4, 2025, while negotiations take place on border security measures to reduce illegal immigration, drug trafficking, and trade imbalances. The 10% universal tariff on Chinese goods, however, already took effect on February 4, 2025. Countermeasures from China include 15% tariffs, effective February 10, 2025, on certain US products, including coal, oil, LNG, and farm machinery. China added certain rare metals used in the defense and clean energy industries into the export control list, and PVH and Illumina to the list of unreliable foreign entities. It also commenced an antitrust probe of Google.
To read and learn more, please go to the post on LinkedIn.
