No one likes to talk politics, especially in mixed company. The parties are polarized, and the gulf between them is impossible to bridge. Fundamentally, some believe the country should be run like a corporation—lean and disciplined. Others feel the government can (and should) play a more active role when it comes to social and environmental issues. Hell, we can’t even agree to disagree.
Whether you believe President Trump is the right or wrong man to guide America isn’t really important here. While it’s probably true that he signs more executive orders than the Arbor Day Foundation plants trees, it’s difficult to gauge his performance based on 100-plus days in office. But if I were to poke holes in his proverbial sweater—and this is something that’s been floated around on a bipartisan basis—it’s the notion that the administration and the news it creates on a daily basis is absolutely exhausting. I’d love to go two days in a row without hearing something controversial related to the president or his administration. Short of going off the grid, I’m not sure it’s avoidable.
But there’s a policy-related item that has caused a great deal of turmoil—tariffs, of course. Canada. Mexico. China. The U.K. Japan. It’s as if the names of countries are pulled from a hat, then each selected country convenes a contentious pow-wow with the Trump Administration. What has most of us even more riled up is the volatility of the tariff rates. It makes no sense to publish anything regarding tariff rates; between the time when this was written and then published, the rates likely yo-yoed several times.
This publication serves a segment of the business community, a group obviously conservative and supportive of legislation that’s pro-business. But in the weeks following the onset of tariffs, many office technology dealers have expressed their frustration with the lack of concrete information as to how tariffs will impact their businesses in terms of hard numbers.
In case you missed our Hot Takes report in early April, when we asked dealers about what they were hearing from their client base, the overall tone was extreme frustration. Some are optimistic it will balance out in the long run. Others have questioned the president’s strategy at a time when inflation is still keenly felt. Here are a few of the reactions from the dealer community.
Joe Blatchford, Image 2000: The amount of chaos this whole tariff situation has created is just amazing! The overall goal of a tariff is to increase the price of goods and services purchased from another country. The concept is designed to make foreign goods less attractive and domestic goods more desirable. What the Trump administration is doing will eventually work, at least in my opinion.
Unfortunately, in the short-term, costs will go up for any products coming from China, Vietnam, etc. This will definitely have a direct impact on the products we provide here in the United States. My fear is that most manufacturers will be raising their prices to combat the tariffs, but if the tariffs are removed, that pricing will stay the same. We’ve already seen some manufacturers remove back-end rebates and credits, which I believe will have a negative impact on overall purchasing.
Unfortunately, only time will tell how this whole situation works out.
Erik Crane, CPI Technologies: We’re not seeing a change in buying behaviors based on the tariff situation at the current time. What we have seen is manufacturer’s raising prices anywhere from 7–15% using the tariffs as a reason. Obviously, that’s affecting our ability to maintain margins. I feel it all will balance out over the next 6–12 months with dealers making the appropriate adjustments to their business plans.
Sam Stone, Stone’s Office Equipment: While it’s a little too early to know the full impact of the tariffs, we’ll over-communicate with our clients and the businesses to which we’ve proposed new equipment. I think it’s long overdue and needed, and while not always popular, everyone will have to increase their prices (manufacturers). We’re telling businesses that if your equipment is at the end of the lease or having mechanical issues, now’s the time to replace it. Other than that, it’s all speculation.
Hunter Woolfolk, DOCUmation: We’ve felt a shift in customer behavior; many who delayed upgrades after COVID are starting to act, and the conversation around tariffs is adding a sense of urgency. While it’s not a full-blown rush, momentum is picking up. IT decisions are taking a bit longer—possibly a result of tax season—but overall activity is trending ahead of 2024. It seems that businesses are recognizing that delaying decisions just isn’t sustainable.
Thomas Fimian, Levifi: This is a self-inflicted crisis of epic proportions, and it appears the lessons of history have been completely ignored. I think there’ll be long-term pain and damage that’ll be difficult to repair. The U.S. is seen in the world as a bully and an increasingly unreliable partner. This has great potential to weaken the U.S. and its economy in the long term.
Andrew Ritschel, Electronic Office Systems: The amount of damage to the economy caused by idiot bipartisan political chaos in Washington is staggering. Having this follow the pandemic is catastrophic. At least a good portion of the American citizenship may start actually looking at the quality of the people we’re voting into Congress. Core values and guiding principles in people do matter!
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