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Don Braid: Mainfreight Managing Director on the impact of Trump's import tariff policies · The SME Stream

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: A lot of what next at the moment around the
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: new truck presidency. Of course, corporates here with US links
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: have a lot to try and work out. Main Freight
• 0:07
  Speaker 1: Managing director Don Braid to give us an insight, Don
• 0:09
  Speaker 1: morning to you in morning monk the broad stuff. First,
• 0:12
  Speaker 1: how big is your operation in the US?
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: We got nineteen hundred and fifty two people across Sadie branches.
• 0:21
  Speaker 2: We'll go close to nine hundred million US and revenue
• 0:25
  Speaker 2: this year.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: So you've got a lot of statement. Do you see
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: things fundamentally changing or not?
• 0:34
  Speaker 2: In the short term, we're already seeing front loading by
• 0:38
  Speaker 2: customers around the world wanting to fill our warehouses with
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: product before supposed tariffs will be applied. In the long term,
• 0:47
  Speaker 2: who knows, you know, we'll ride the wave. If we
• 0:51
  Speaker 2: get a stronger US economy, that'll be good for the
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: business within within America for US. If tariffs are on
• 0:58
  Speaker 2: China product, then we might see less product moving from
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: China to America, but we'll be there and wanting to
• 1:04
  Speaker 2: take part.
• 1:05
  Speaker 1: So your yours is an individual story. Because of course
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: we're coming at this from a New Zealand side of
• 1:09
  Speaker 1: the equation, So you would deal with Chinese product. The
• 1:12
  Speaker 1: argument is tariffs are about China, not about New Zealand.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: Do you think that's fair?
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah? I do, although you know, all the rhetoric is
• 1:22
  Speaker 2: that he's going to apply tariffs to all imports, which
• 1:25
  Speaker 2: you know we've also got Europe to concern ourselves with
• 1:28
  Speaker 2: as well, and then does you retaliate with tariffs of
• 1:32
  Speaker 2: their own So that becomes a bit of a bidding war.
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: But for us, if you've got a stronger economy, then
• 1:40
  Speaker 2: you were likely to get more imports as a consequence.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: Well, you make a very good point. I mean, we
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: already have a world of tariffs for goodness sake. I mean,
• 1:47
  Speaker 1: look at the Brandy and the cows, and the evs
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: and the China and the EU. At the moment. Can
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: you manage tariffs and simply get on with life?
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: They are what they are, Yeah, exactly right, And you
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: know they become an inflationary product for the American economy.
• 2:04
  Speaker 2: But you know, people still want to buy product is
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: not necessary, not all product that they consume as manufactured
• 2:10
  Speaker 2: in America. So if tariffs are applied, they'll apply the
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: price increase.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: And from our point of view, how many products do
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: you think could stand the tariff and still do well.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: See I think of top end wine, the very best
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: cut of beef New York. People on the Upper East
• 2:27
  Speaker 1: Side will pay anything in a tariff. Doesn't make any difference,
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: Or am I being delusional?
• 2:34
  Speaker 2: I think you're right. Although it's interesting. We do do
• 2:38
  Speaker 2: a lot of beverage and it's beverage that's pre loading
• 2:41
  Speaker 2: those warehouses right now, so clearly they want that product
• 2:45
  Speaker 2: in the market well before if there's a tariff to
• 2:48
  Speaker 2: be applied.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Give us the down braid view of the world right now.
• 2:51
  Speaker 1: How messy is it?
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: Yes, messy because economic recessions. But it's still exciting and
• 3:00
  Speaker 2: we still didn't business and we got up this morning
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: and they had an espresso. It's still fun.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: You can't argue with that. I like your inside, don't
• 3:08
  Speaker 1: break the main Freight Managing Director