Beginning with the Theodore Roosevelt administration, the United States became a major player in international trade. One prime example is the USMCA, which replaced the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and was approved by Congress in December 2019.

It looks like this is all about to change.

Tariffs have been ordered twice for imports from Canada and Mexico (25% each) and delayed twice (at the time of this writing).

Tariffs on China imports (additional 10% to what the Trump administration imposed during its first term and that were kept in place during the Biden administration) continue to be in place.

In addition, 5 years after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global supply chain is still recovering from the dramatic changes in global consumption patterns.

In short, the business environment is far from predictable and business benefits from predictable, stable environments that encourage long-term investments, including those made by manufacturing companies.

For many businessowners and stakeholders – including the system integration community – this is a very challenging time to run a business.

That’s why the CSIA Benchmarking Committee is hosting a Special Interest Group roundtable discussion – an opportunity for you to hear what other Sis are doing, share your ideas and plans, and, basically, hash it all out together.

Set aside 60 minutes of your day to brainstorm with your peers about how tariffs are impacting

• pricing (SIs quote projects months ahead of their start),
• business decisions (manufacturers are likely to postpone projects until a more predictable environment has been reached), and
• hiring talent (the SI is a people business that requires hiring and onboarding new resources ahead of projects).

This will NOT be a typical webinar presentation – no PowerPoints, no talking heads – the format will be a virtual meeting, which means mics and cameras on, so that you can get real-world advice in real time from the real experts – your peers.

If you are interested in brainstorming and networking with others in the industry, then this meetup is for you.

This session will NOT be recorded – to participate you must attend the live event and be a CSIA member.