Making Sound Decisions On Cap-Ex: A Guide For Early-Stage Companies

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Trump Announces Sweeping New Tariffs To Promote U.S. Manufacturing, Risking Inflation And Trade WarsWASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump announced far-reaching new tariffs on nearly all U.S. trading partners — a 34% tax on imports from China and 20% on the European Union, among others — that threaten to dismantle much of the architecture of the global economy and trigger broader trade wars. Trump, in a Rose Garden announcement on Wednesday, said he was placing elevated tariff rates on dozens of nations that run meaningful trade surpluses with the United States, while imposing a 10% baseline tax on imports from all countries in response to what he called an economic emergency. The president, who said the tariffs were designed to boost domestic manufacturing, used aggressive rhetoric to describe a global trade system that the United States helped to build after World War II, saying "our country has been looted, pillaged, raped and plundered" by other nations. The action amounts to a historic tax hike that could push the global order to a breaking point. It kickstarts what could be a painful transition for many Americans as middle-class essentials such as housing, autos and clothing are expected to become more costly, while disrupting the alliances built to ensure peace and economic stability. Trump said he was acting to bring in hundreds of billions in new revenue to the U.S. government and restore fairness to global trade. "Taxpayers have been ripped off for more than 50 years," he said. "But it is not going to happen anymore." Trump declared a national economic emergency to levy the tariffs. He has promised that factory jobs will return to the United States as a result of the taxes, but his policies risk a sudden economic slowdown as consumers and businesses could face sharp price hikes. Trump was fulfilling a key campaign promise as he imposed what he called "reciprocal" tariffs on trade partners, acting without Congress under the 1977 International Emergency Powers Act. But his action Wednesday could jeopardize Trump's voter mandate in last year's election to combat inflation. Several Republican senators, particularly from farm and border states, have questioned the wisdom of the tariffs. U.S. stock market futures sold off sharply overnight in anticipation of the economy weakening, after having already dropped since the start of this year. "With today's announcement, U.S. tariffs will approach levels not seen since the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act of 1930, which incited a global trade war and deepened the Great Depression," said Scott Lincicome and Colin Grabow of the Cato Institute, a libertarian think tank. The president's higher rates would hit foreign entities that sell more goods to the United States than they buy. The administration essentially calculated its tariff rates to raise revenues equal in size to the trade imbalances with those nations. Trump then halved that rate in an act that he described as "very kind." The White House says the tariffs and other trade imbalances led to an $1.2 trillion imbalance last year. Administration officials suggested it could take an extended set of actions by other countries to bring down the new tariffs their imports now face, and retaliatory tariffs by those countries could make the situation worse. Olu Sonola, head of U.S. economic research at Fitch Ratings, said the average tariff rate charged by the United States would increase to roughly 22% from 2.5% in 2024. "Many countries will likely end up in a recession," Sonola said. "You can throw most forecasts out the door, if this tariff rate stays on for an extended period of time." The new tariffs will come on top of recent announcements of 25% taxes on auto imports; levies against China, Canada and Mexico; and expanded trade penalties on steel and aluminum. Trump has also imposed tariffs on countries that import oil from Venezuela and he plans separate import taxes on pharmaceutical drugs, lumber, copper and computer chips. Canada and Mexico would not face higher rates on what they're already being charged by Trump in what he says is an effort to stop illegal immigration and drug smuggling. As of now, goods that comply with the USMCA North American trade pact would be excluded from those tariffs. But the 20% charged on imports from China due to its role in fentanyl production would largely be added to the 34% announced by Trump. The specific products that Trump is tariffing, such as autos, would be exempt from the tariffs unveiled Wednesday, as would products such as pharmaceutical drugs that he plans to tariff at a later date. None of the warning signs about a falling stock market or consumer sentiment turning morose have caused the administration to publicly second-guess its strategy, despite the risk of political backlash. Senior administration officials, who insisted on anonymity to preview the new tariffs with reporters ahead of Trump's speech, said the taxes would raise hundreds of billions of dollars annually in revenues. They said the 10% baseline rate existed to help ensure compliance, while the higher rates were based on the trade deficits run with other nations and then halved to reach the numbers that Trump presented in the Rose Garden. The 10% rate would be collected starting Saturday and the higher rates would be collected beginning April 9. Trump removed the tariff exemptions on imports from China worth $800 or less. He plans to remove the exemptions other nations have on imports worth $800 or less once the federal government certifies that is has the staffing and resources in place. Based on the possibility of broad tariffs that have been floated by some White House aides, most outside analyses by banks and think tanks see an economy tarnished by higher prices and stagnating growth. Trump would be applying these tariffs on his own; he has ways of doing so without congressional approval. That makes it easy for Democratic lawmakers and policymakers to criticize the administration if the uncertainty expressed by businesses and declining consumer sentiment are signs of trouble to come. Rep. Suzan DelBene, D-Wash., said the tariffs are "part of the chaos and dysfunction" being generated across the Trump administration. The chair of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee stressed that Trump should not have the sole authority to raise taxes as he intends without getting lawmakers' approval, saying that Republicans so far have been "blindly loyal." "The president shouldn't be able to do that," DelBene said. "This is a massive tax increase on American families, and it's without a vote in Congress. ... President Trump promised on the campaign trail that he would lower costs on day one. Now he says he doesn't care if prices go up — he's broken his promise." Even Republicans who trust Trump's instincts have acknowledged that the tariffs could disrupt an economy with an otherwise healthy 4.1 % unemployment rate. "We'll see how it all develops," said House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. "It may be rocky in the beginning. But I think that this will make sense for Americans and help all Americans." Longtime trading partners are preparing their own countermeasures. Canada has imposed some in response to the tariffs that Trump tied to the trafficking of fentanyl. The European Union, in response to the steel and aluminum tariffs, put taxes on 26 billion euros ($28 billion) worth of U.S. goods, including on bourbon, which prompted Trump to threaten a 200% tariff on European alcohol. Many allies feel they have been reluctantly drawn into a confrontation by Trump, who routinely says America's friends and foes have essentially ripped off the United States with a mix of tariffs and other trade barriers. The flip side is that Americans also have the incomes to choose to buy designer gowns by French fashion houses and autos from German manufacturers, whereas World Bank data show the EU has lower incomes per capita than the U.S. The Chinese government delivered a measured response to the new tariffs, saying in a statement: "China believes that protectionism leads nowhere, and trade and tariff wars have no winners. This has been widely recognized in the international community." Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Trump's new tariffs would "fundamentally change the international trading system." He noted that the tariffs already in place against his country and those Trump says he plans to add will be fought with countermeasures. "In a crisis, it's important to come together and it's essential to act with purpose and with force and that's what we will do," Carney said. Italy's conservative Premier Giorgia Meloni said Trump's new tariffs against the EU were "wrong" and Italy would work toward an agreement with the United States to avoid a trade war that would weaken all involved. Basic Fun CEO Jay Foreman, whose company is behind such classic toys as Tonka trucks, Lincoln Logs and Care Bears, has been working hard to come up with new ways to cut tariff-related costs like reduce packaging and eliminate batteries with the products. But Trump's announcement that he plans a 34% increase in tariffs on Chinese imports has solidified his decision to hike prices. Most of the company's toys are made in China. He said the Tonka Mighty Dump Truck will go from $29.99 to $39.99 this holiday season, possibly even $45. "There is no other way," he said.

factory

03 April 2025

manufacturing net

Demand For Viral 'Torpedo' Baseball Bats Sends Pennsylvania Factory Into OverdriveKING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — A 70-year-old man who plays in an area senior hardball league popped into Victus Sports this week because he needed bats for the new season. Plus he just had to take some cuts with baseball's latest fad and see for himself if there really was some wizardry in the wallop off a torpedo bat. Ed Costantini, of Newtown Square, picked up the custom-designed VOLPE11-TPD Pro Reserve Maple, and took his hacks just like MLB stars and Victus customers Anthony Volpe or Bryson Stott would inside the company's batting cage and tracked the ball's path on the virtual Citizens Bank Park on the computer screens. Most big leaguers use that often indistinguishable "feel" as a qualifier as to how they select a bat. Costantini had a similar process and thought the hype surrounding the torpedo since it exploded into the baseball consciousness over the weekend was a "hoax." But after dozens of swings in the cage, where he said the balance was better, the ball sounded more crisp off the bat, the left-handed hitter ordered on the spot four custom-crafted torpedo bats at $150 a pop. "The litmus test that I used was, I could see where the marks of the ball were," Costantini said. "The swings were hitting the thickness of the torpedo as opposed to the end of the bat." More than just All-Stars want a crack at the torpedo — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — and Costantini's purchase highlighted the surge of interest in baseball's shiny new toy outside the majors. Think of home runs in baseball, and the fan's mind races to the mammoth distances a ball can fly when slugged right on the nose, or a history-making chase that captivates a nation. Of lesser interest, the ol' reliable wood bat itself. That was, of course, until Paul Goldschmidt and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back homers for the New York Yankees last Saturday to open a nine-homer barrage. Victus Sports, known as much for their vibrant bats painted as pencils or the Phillie Phanatic dressed as a King's Guard, had three employees at the game and they started a text thread where they hinted to those back home that, perhaps more than home runs were taking off. Business was about to boom, too. Victus spent most of the last 14 years trying to help shape the future of baseball. The company's founders just never imagined that shape would resemble a bowling pin. "It was the most talked about thing about bats that we ever experienced," Victus co-founder Jared Smith said. Victus isn't the only company producing the bulgy bats, but they were among the first to list them for sale online after the Yankees' made them the talk of the sports world. The torpedo bat took the league by storm in only 24 hours, and days later, the calls and orders, and test drives -- from big leaguers to rec leaguers -- are humming inside the company's base, in a northwest suburb of Philadelphia. "The amount of steam that it's caught, this quickly, that's certainly surprising," Smith said. "If the Yankees hitting nine home runs in a game doesn't happen, this doesn't happen." Victus was stamped this season as the official bat of Major League Baseball and business was already good: Phillies slugger Bryce Harper is among the stars who stick their bats on highlight reels. But that torpedo-looking hunk of lumber? It generated about as much interest last season in baseball as a .200 hitter. Victus made its first torpedoes around 2024 spring training when the Yankees reached out about crafting samples for their players. Victus, as dialed-in as anyone in the bat game, only made about a dozen last season, and about a dozen more birch or maple bats this spring. This week alone, try hundreds of torpedoes. "Every two minutes, another one comes out of the machine," Smith said. Who knew there would be a baseball bat craze? On a good day, Victus makes 600-700 bats, but the influx of pro orders -- the company estimates at least half of every starting lineup uses Victus or Marucci bats -- has sent production into overdrive. The creation of a typical bat is usually a two-day process, but one can be turned around without a finish in about 20 minutes. Victus crafted rush-order bats Monday morning for a few interested Phillies and dashed to Citizens Bank Park for delivery moments before first pitch. All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm singled with one. Stott tested bats at the Marucci hit lab down in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, churning through styles until the company found the right fit. "They connect all these wires to you, and you swing 1,000 bats," Stott said. "And they kind of tell you where you're hitting the ball mostly." Here's the surprising part of the torpedo bat: For all its early hype, the bat is no rookie in the game. The lethal lumber has been used by some sluggers in baseball for at least a year or two only, well, no one really noticed. Giancarlo Stanton and Francisco Lindor used torpedoes last season. Other players experimented with it and no one — not the bulk of other players or journalists or fans — ever really picked up on the newfangled advance in hitting innovation. Smith said only "a few baseball junkies" inquired about the bats. "I think it's just one of those things that until you're looking for it, you might not see it," Smith said. "Now when you look at pictures, you're like, oh yeah, it's a torpedo." Aaron Leanhardt, a former Yankees front-office staffer who now works for the Miami Marlins, was credited as the one who developed the torpedo barrel to bring more mass to a bat's sweet spot. A member of Victus' parent company, Marucci Sports, worked with Leanhardt in a Louisiana branch of their hit lab last year to get the bat off the ground and into the hands of big leaguers. "I think getting past the shape being different was the hardest barrier," Smith said. "Then the team goes out and hits those home runs like they did and everyone is willing to try it." Before last weekend, Victus had no plans to mass produce the bat, making it only available to professionals. Now, Smith said, "I think it's our job to kind of educate the public in what's out there." The odd shape off the bat — like making a sausage, the meat is simply pushed down the casing — has little to no effect at Victus on the dynamics of making a baseball bat. The cost is the same as a standard bat, too, with a sticker price starting at around $200. Only the slogan is punched up: Get your hands on the most-talked about bat in the game. There's not enough data yet to truly know how much oomph — or hits and homers — a torpedo bat may help some hitters. Cincinnati's Elly De La Cruz picked one up for the first time Monday and had a single, double and two home runs for a career-high seven RBIs. Not all hitters are believers —- or at least feel like they need to tinker with their lumber. Yankees slugger Aaron Judge, who hit an AL-record 62 homers in 2022 and 58 last year en route to his second AL MVP award, declined to try the new bat, asking, "Why try to change something?" Phillies All-Star shortstop Trea Turner said the hoopla was "blown out of proportion." "You've still got to hit the ball," Turner said. Turner, though, said he was open to trying the torpedo. "For bats to be the hot topic out in the zeitgeist is cool," Smith said. "It's kind of like our time to shine, in a way."

factory

03 April 2025

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Making Sound Decisions On Cap-Ex: A Guide For Early-Stage Companies

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