NACDS President and CEO Steven C. Anderson, IOM, CAE, focused on the impact of emerging trade policies coming out of Washington, D.C., during the organization’s Total Store Expo business program on Sunday, August 26. Anderson highlighted the larger ramifications for the pharmaceutical industry as well as the local Denver economy with a just-released survey.

“The emerging trade war is on the minds of those doing business here at the NACDS Total Store Expo, and on the minds of consumers,” Anderson said. “Diverse products, packaging and equipment already are being affected. There are increased freight costs, too. This matters to the entire supply chain. It affects the products on store shelves; it affects the process of getting those products to the shelves; and it even affects the shelves themselves, given rising steel costs.”

To gauge the real-life impact of tariff policies on the local (Denver) business community, NACDS commissioned a survey, conducted by Morning Consult. Anderson released the results of this survey, which found:
• 65% are concerned about retaliatory tariffs imposed on the U.S. by other countries;
• 76% say they fear increased prices, in particular on healthcare products;
• 62% are concerned about job losses across industries;
• 49% say tariffs will hurt Colorado’s retail industry;
• 62% prefer more free-trade agreements, and only 18% prefer tariffs as a matter of trade policy.

“From here at the NACDS Total Store Expo, we are telling this story to Washington decision-makers through a concerted communications campaign this week,” Anderson said. “Morning Consult is blasting our information through its publications, and sending our data to decision-makers and influencers in the nation’s capital. We are sharing this with the Denver and Washington, D.C. media. The Denver Business Journal published an opinion piece by NACDS and by the Colorado Retail Council on this topic. I want to thank the Colorado Retail Council for partnering with us, given the local angle, and we are working to tell this story through the coalitions that are active on the issue.

“Last year, retailers and suppliers worked together—successfully—to fight the border adjustment tax. That proposal, which threatened consumers, workers, and businesses, was defeated. It is time to take up the fight on the trade war again. We are sending that message loud and clear. And there could not be a better venue for making the case than right here.” 

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