Mainebiz

W W W. M A I N E B I Z . B I Z 15 D E C E M B E R 1 6 , 2 0 2 4 M A N U FA C T U R I N G Wall Street and waiting game While some economists have voiced concerns that tax cuts and higher tariffs under Trump could trigger higher inflation, interest rates in the bond market have gone back below pre- election levels and Wall Street investors have pushed the S&P 500 stock market index to new records. But Trump's tariff threats remain a wild card. "e thing that businesses abhor above everything else is uncertainty," says Mike Roughton, executive director of the Manufacturers Association of Maine, a 200-strong nonprofit trade group. While Trumps vaunts his unpredictability, the result is "churn and chaos" for businesses, he says. Roughton has experienced that firsthand, run- ning a metal stamping business in New Jersey the last time Trump was in office and imposed steel and aluminum tariffs. In a world where supply chains were thrown out of whack during the pandemic and hir- ing remains difficult, companies' ability to respond to changing conditions is constrained, Roughton notes. Add tough trade talk and new tariffs to the mix, "and it distracts them from what they are supposed to be doing, which is making great products for their customers and keeping them happy." R e n e e C o r d e s , M a i n e b i z s e n i o r w r i t e r , c a n b e r e a c h e d a t r c o r d e s @ m a i n e b i z . b i z 22 LOCATIONS ACROSS MAINE & NEW HAMPSHIRE W W W . H A M M O N D L U M B E R . C O M 1 - 8 0 0 - H A M M O N D Made in maine AUBURN • BANGOR • BAR HARBOR • BELFAST • BELGRADE • BLUE HILL • BOOTHBAY HARBOR • BRUNSWICK • BUCKSPORT • CALAIS • CAMDEN • CHERRYFIELD DAMARISCOTTA • ELLSWORTH • FAIRFIELD • FARMINGTON • GREENVILLE • MACHIAS • PORTLAND • ROCHESTER (NH) • ROCKLAND • SKOWHEGAN HAMMOND LUMBER COMPANY HAS HAD A PROUD HISTORY OF STAYING CLOSE TO ITS SOURCES AND CLOSE TO THE PEOPLE AND BUSINESSES ITS SUPPORTS B Y SOURCING QUALITY PINE AND HEMLOCK LOCALLY. WE WORK HARD TO DEVELOP NEW EQUIPMENT, PROCESSES, AND SERVICES THAT KEEP US AT THE FOREFRONT OF THE BUILDING MATERIALS INDUSTRY. 2021 2022 2023 2024 2 0 2 3 2 0 2 4 FOURTH GENERATION SINCE 1953 F O C U S P H O T O / T I M G R E E N WAY Mike Roughton, photographed at Saunders Electronics in South Portland, is the executive director of the Manufacturers Association of Maine.

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