U.S. companies are flooding lobbyists' phone lines, looking to connect to the right people to protect their businesses from Donald Trump's hardline tariff approach.
Collinson, who helps lead the international trade and government relations division at the lobbying firm Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, said she is fielding"dozens and dozens and dozens" of calls from anxious U.S. companies looking to protect themselves from Trump's hardline tariff plans by finding loopholes and exemptions.
Ron Sorini, a principal at the lobbying firm Sorini, Samet & Associates, echoed that sentiment, noting that he takes at least two to three calls a day to field companies' concerns about the proposed tariff ramp-up, especially in China. Now, with Trump set to retake the White House in a matter of weeks, tariff escalation is becoming a more likely reality.
What tariffs will look like in the next Trump administration, and whether exemptions will be available at all, are both unknown. "The American people re-elected President Trump by a resounding margin giving him a mandate to implement the promises he made on the campaign trail. He will deliver," Leavitt told CNBC in a statement.