"Stop the chaos": Massachusetts reels from on-and-off-again tariffs
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Gov. Maura Healey and business leaders were discussing the impacts of impending tariffs in her office Wednesday when a message popped up on her phone: another pause on tariffs.
Why it matters: Healey and business leaders say — pause or no pause — the escalating trade wars have already cost local businesses contracts and potential investments in Massachusetts.
Driving the news: Healey urged President Trump to "stop the chaos" with the on-again-off-again tariffs.
- Her administration is exploring setting up programs to help affected businesses with help from quasi-public agencies like MassTech.
- She declined to elaborate when asked by an Axios reporter whether the solution involves new programs or expanding access to existing resources.
- She focused her message on urging Trump to rethink his current tactics
What they're saying: "We cannot continue to have our economy in Massachusetts and around this country held hostage," Healey told reporters yesterday.
- "We cannot continue to gamble with people's livelihoods."
The big picture: The tariffs alone stand to cost Massachusetts more than $3.2 billion annually, per recent estimates, and the state is already struggling with the loss of NIH grants and federal worker layoffs.
Zoom in: The repeated threats of tariffs are prompting some European companies and other businesses to hold off on making investments in Massachusetts, said Jim Rooney, president and CEO of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce.
Sergio Espinoza, founder and CEO of Manka FoodService Consulting & Design, says the tariffs have thrown a wrench in his plans with Cremosos, a Dominican ice pop maker, to build a manufacturing facility in the state.
- He foresees tariffs driving the cost of restaurant equipment, food and other supplies that are central to his clients' businesses.
- "We're advising for people not to expand the business, not to look at other locations, until we're 100% sure that we can make it happen," Espinoza said of his clients.
What we're watching: Healey plans to announce business resources in a matter of days.