ST. MARTIN PARISH — A newly proposed 30% tariff on certain imported goods from Mexico and the European Union has Louisiana manufacturers watching closely—including St. Martin Metal in St. Martinville.
President Trump announced the change July 12, with an expected effective date of August 1. However, no formal legal order has been released to clarify the scope or implementation of the increase. As a result, many in the industry are left to navigate uncertainty and prepare for potential ripple effects across the supply chain.
Ian Bertrand, Manager of St. Martin Metal, said his company began adjusting months ago as costs started to rise.“We found ourselves in a position where prices started increasing from our current vendors that we had to start looking at new vendors,” Bertrand said.
The company had been sourcing raw steel through a Texas supplier that relied partly on materials from Mexico and Canada. Bertrand said they changed suppliers to avoid the ups and downs of relying on imported materials.
“Tariffs only affect imported products so we’ve moved into products that are solely made in the USA and aligned ourselves with some vendors that have some very good pricing,” he said.
Still, the change didn’t eliminate cost increases entirely.He said ongoing changes in customer demand, material availability, and pricing continue to shape how the company operates.“These thoughts of you know do we change to this process, do we try to find another vendor for this product, do we try to start offering these products. All that stuff is dictated by, when the phone rings, what are people asking for,” he said.
David Hughes, a political science professor at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, said the proposal—though lacking legal documentation—could still carry broad consequences.“There’s no compounding effect here so if a country was at a 25% tariff this proposal would just move it to 30%,” Hughes said. “A 30% tariff, even where it was at 25, has huge implications for the ghosts of the goods that are being imported into the United States.”
Hughes explained that even industries not directly tied to the targeted goods may feel the impact.“It wouldn't surprise me to see folks noticing that even if they're dealing in an industry that doesn't deal with a particular good that’s been tariffed, they could still see their prices increase because of these widespread monetary policies,” he said.
With reduced international supply, domestic producers may respond by raising prices as well.“Once that international supply gets constrained, you’ll still see inflationary effects from domestic suppliers because when there is less supply of something, then scarcity becomes an issue and prices go up. It’s still inflationary,” Hughes said.
He noted that tariffs and inflation are closely linked and can be hard to separate when analyzing the source of rising prices.“Tariffs and inflation are gonna run hand in hand. Tariffs will contribute to inflation. So they are not necessarily distinct issues. Once you start slapping taxes on goods or services they become more expensive,” he said.
As the proposed August 1 start date draws closer, manufacturers like St. Martin Metal say they are doing what they can now to stay ahead.
