At the Connecticut Business & Industry Association Manufacturing Summit held in Southington on October 2, 2025, the mood among manufacturers was anything but upbeat. The dominant topic? Tariffs—those persistent fees on imported goods that have become a defining feature of U.S. trade policy in recent years. For many Connecticut manufacturers, these tariffs are more than just a line item on a balance sheet; they’re a daily headache, reshaping everything from supply chains to hiring decisions.
A recent survey by the state’s top business group found that nearly two-thirds of Connecticut manufacturers say tariffs have significantly hurt their business this year. Yet, despite these challenges, the majority remain profitable—a testament, perhaps, to the resilience and adaptability of local industry. Still, only 5% of manufacturers polled said tariffs had been a positive for their operations, a figure that underscores the widespread frustration in the sector.
John Murphy, senior vice president and head of international for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, didn’t sugarcoat the situation when he addressed summit attendees. According to Murphy, "We’ve seen the sector shed jobs for every month over the past year except for one, so there are challenges here and trade is part of that." He went on to emphasize the global nature of manufacturing, noting, "Ninety-five percent of the world’s consumers live outside our borders, so trade is a part of the picture and what we’re seeing right now is some pretty big changes in the trade environment."
Connecticut’s role in the global economy is significant. In 2024, the state’s exports totaled $17.4 billion, according to federal estimates. But the landscape is shifting. Murphy explained that tariffs are not just about paying more for imported materials and parts—they’re also about compliance and traceability. Manufacturers now must prove the origin of every component to avoid penalties. "They have to be able to show where everything comes from," Murphy said. "They have to be able to say where the steel is smelted or where the aluminum is smelted and cast; how much these things weigh; what their value is; and be able to do that all the way down through their tier two, three, four suppliers. And they never had to do that before."
This new level of scrutiny is no small feat. For many companies, it means investing time and resources into tracking supply chains with a level of detail that was previously unnecessary. And sometimes, there simply aren’t domestic alternatives. Murphy questioned the logic of tariffs on products like bananas, coffee, or cocoa—items that are hardly produced in the United States at all. "Why do we have tariffs on bananas or coffee or cocoa, when those are simply not produced in the United States or hardly at all?" he asked.
Martin Baumann, president in the Rocky Hill office of Germany-based Arburg, which manufactures robotic arms and injection molding machines, offered a sobering assessment: "Some can say, 'oh, it’s just a short-term pain for long-term gain.' But the short-term pain is, so far, real — and I’m not sure it’s that short-term." The costs, he argued, are being felt today, while any potential benefits are years away at best.
Not every company is hit equally. Molly Kellogg, CEO of Waterbury-based Hubbard-Hall, said her company has not experienced as severe an impact as some others, but tariffs are still affecting basic business functions like pricing. Hubbard-Hall’s filtration systems, which allow industrial cleansers to be reused, depend on a variety of inputs whose costs have become harder to manage. "It’s tough," Kellogg admitted. "All those different inputs, and how to manage those."
Brad Hulbert, managing director for Grant Thornton in Charlotte, North Carolina, painted a nuanced picture of the response to tariffs. He told attendees that while some "re-shoring"—the return of manufacturing jobs to the U.S.—has occurred, it’s far from a sweeping trend. "It is not wide-scale," Hulbert said. "What we’re seeing is really a hybrid approach — partial re-shoring of some suppliers; still a lot of interest in 'near-shoring' down in Mexico; and companies really starting to scratch the surface [of]… automation, and gain efficiencies." The global nature of supply chains, it seems, is proving stubbornly resistant to rapid change.
On the international stage, the Trump administration’s efforts to bring more semiconductor production to the United States were recently rebuffed by Taiwan, which rejected a proposal to shift half of all semiconductor production there to the U.S. This highlights the complexities and limitations of current trade strategies—especially when it comes to high-tech industries with deeply entrenched global supply lines.
Beyond the boardrooms of Connecticut, the broader American public is also feeling the pinch. According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted between September 22 and 28, 2025, only 26% of U.S. adults rated the economy as excellent or good, while a staggering 74% rated it as only fair or poor—a trend that has held steady over the past three years. The survey, which polled 3,445 adults nationwide, revealed deep partisan divides: 44% of Republicans now rate the economy positively (an 8-point jump since April), while only 10% of Democrats do so, unchanged from previous months.
What’s driving these negative assessments? The answer, for many Americans, is painfully familiar: rising prices and personal expenses. In fact, 42% of respondents cited these factors as reasons for their gloomy outlook, with 17% specifically mentioning high inflation and 9% pointing to the cost of living. Food and grocery prices, along with housing costs, were also top concerns. Sixty-five percent said they were very concerned about the price of food and consumer goods, and 61% expressed the same level of worry about housing.
Tariffs, too, are part of the story. Twelve percent of those surveyed specifically pointed to the negative impacts of tariffs as a reason for their fair or poor evaluation of the economy. This figure underscores the extent to which trade policy has become a kitchen-table issue, not just a matter for corporate executives and policymakers.
Political views color these perceptions. Sixteen percent of respondents blamed Trump or the GOP for current economic woes, a notable increase from the 6% who blamed Biden or Democrats in 2024. When asked about the impact of Trump’s economic policies since he took office, 53% of Americans said they had made conditions worse, while 24% said better and 22% said there had been no effect. Among Republicans, 47% credited Trump’s policies with improving the economy, while just 3% of Democrats agreed.
Looking ahead, Americans’ expectations for the future are hardly rosy. Only 29% expect economic conditions to improve a year from now, down from 36% in April. Meanwhile, 46% expect conditions to worsen—a figure that’s up 9 percentage points since February. Even among Republicans, optimism is waning: 55% now say the economy will be better a year from now, down from 65% in April. For Democrats, hope is in even shorter supply, with just 6% expecting improvement and 73% bracing for worse conditions.
As the country grapples with these challenges, the intersection of global trade policy, domestic manufacturing, and everyday economic realities is becoming ever more apparent. For Connecticut’s manufacturers and for Americans more broadly, the costs of tariffs are no longer abstract—they’re immediate, tangible, and, for now, here to stay.
