OSHKOSH (NBC 26) — The effects of President Donald Trump’s tariffs against U.S trading partners continue to show in global markets, with impacts reaching local manufacturers in Northeast Wisconsin.
- Some manufacturers in Oshkosh have been preparing for tariff impacts for months.
- Oshkosh Coil Spring purchases 60% of its steel from companies overseas.
Manufacturers are waiting to see how tariffs will change after negotiations.
From farm equipment, to the cup dispenser at Kwik Trip, Oshkosh Coil Spring has had a hand in making it.
“Just about anything you can think of, our product is in,” Wayne Trembly, CEO of Oshkosh Coil Spring, says.
Trembly is a second generation CEO– his father started the company in 1959.
He says 60% of the steel they use comes from overseas.
“So we knew when they started putting tariffs on steel that we were going to see an increase,” he says.
To prepare for the increase in cost, many of Trembly’s customers pre-purchased large amounts of springs before tariffs went into effect.
The steel is stored as extra inventory in Oshkosh Coil Spring warehouses.
“That strategy has worked very well for our larger customers,” he says. “As we consume that steel, the goal would be that the tariffs would be settled, these issues would be settled.”
If the tariffs remain, it isn’t just steel costs that will impact Trembly’s business.
Reciprocal tariffs have already had a big impact.
“Thirty or 40% of our sales have an international component,” he says. “For example, if we’re sending it into Canada, they’ll only take it if we pay the Canadian tariff on it.”
Trembly says close to 20% of his sales usually go to Canada.
As negotiations continue, some of Trembly’s customers are waiting to buy his springs, hoping the cost will decrease.
“So you have a lot of people pretty much just waiting,” he says. “They're waiting on placing orders. Materials are backing up in warehouses because overseas customers won't take it. So that's a real serious situation that hopefully gets settled sometime soon.”
As for any benefits to American manufacturing, Trembly says it will take a while.
“Maybe two or three years long term, there could be some real benefits to reshoring products back into the United States, but there’s going to be some short-term pain.”
For some smaller scale companies, like Black Wolf Designs in Omro, there will be no reshoring process.
“Everything we buy, for the most part, is domestically sourced,” president Terry Sweeney says.
Black Wolf Designs is a custom furniture manufacturer, and Sweeney says they rarely import or export anything.
He says for his business, there’s a possibility that tariffs could be beneficial.
“Some of our suppliers ship lumber overseas, so some of our material costs might come down if there’s an excess of it,” he says.
With negotiations still in the air, Trembly and Sweeney say it’s too early for a long-term plan.
“I don’t want this to be a scenario where it would really hurt manufacturing in this country,” Trembly says. “So I'm hoping it gets resolved sooner rather than later.”
