Stanley Black & Decker Executive Rips Trump Tariffs

The chief financial officer of Stanley Black & Decker Inc. on Friday sharply criticized President Donald Trump's policy of tariffs, warning that job losses will result.

CFO Donald Allan Jr., speaking to an audience of manufacturing executives and other business representatives at a conference in Trumbull, said tariffs -- specifically, a 25 percent levy on steel, aluminum and finished goods and retaliatory tariffs by China -- are having an impact on Stanley Black & Decker "in a very significant way." Higher prices resulting from tariffs will force businesses to cut costs, leading to layoffs, Allan said.

"People are going to start losing their jobs as a result of this," he said. "This is not the right approach." A stronger dollar that makes exported goods more expensive overseas and rising commodity prices also were blamed for the lower profit guidance.

As early as March, when Trump announced the first round of tariffs, Connecticut manufacturers warned that the policy will hurt businesses in the state. Allan said tariffs are "disadvantaging a company like us" because half of the products Stanley Black and Decker makes are manufactured and sold in the U.S.

In contrast, a competitor that makes all its power tools in China and ships to the U.S. is not affected by tariffs, he said. Trump's tariff policy is "just not well thought through," Allan said."It's using a blunt ax to deal with a trade deficit situation and that's Trump's approach on everything," he said. "It might work at the end of the day but he's going to do some damage and we are being very vocal about it."
http://www.courant.com/business/hc-biz-stanley-black-decker-tariffs-20181026-story.html