How a Trump Win Affects Small Businesses: Georgetown Professor

On Wednesday morning, Republican candidate Donald Trump was elected the 47th president of the United States.

Wall Street is “cheering” Trump’s triumph, per NPR, and is relieved by a “quick and undisputed election result,” according to USA Today.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose more than 3% Wednesday morning, and the Nasdaq and S&P 500 rose by 1.5% each, hitting record highs.

Related: ‘Major Impact’: Here’s What the Big Four Firms Have to Say About the 2024 Election

How a Second Trump Presidency Could Affect Small Business

Shye Gilad, Professor of the Practice in Management at Georgetown’s McDonough School of Business, told Entrepreneur in an emailed statement that the election outcome “significantly” affects small businesses.

The Trump administration has proposed lowering the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%.

“Under a Trump administration, the emphasis may be more on reducing taxes, deregulating industries, and implementing protectionist trade policies,” Gilad stated.

^{Donald Trump. Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images}

Related: We Asked 500 Small Business Owners What They Thought About the Economy, Inflation and the Upcoming Election. Here Are the Results.

On trade, Trump proposed 10% to 20% tariffs on all imports and 60% to 100% tariffs on imports from China, stating that policies would create new jobs and help the American manufacturing industry. The National Retail Federation estimates that the tariffs would cost consumers $78 billion per year.

“While small business owners may welcome Trump’s corporate tax rate cut, his protectionist trade approach, and vow to eliminate the ACA could present costly, systemic problems that may outweigh the tax benefit,” Gilad wrote.

Related: ‘You Won Fair and Square’: How Mark Cuban, Elon Musk and Business Leaders Are Reacting to Trump’s 2024 Election Win

However, Bill Newlands, the CEO of Constellation Brands, a beer company known for the Modelo, Corona, and Pacifico brands, downplayed concerns about higher tariffs in a recent interview.

“We already had four years of a Trump administration, and our business was up double-digit during that window of time,” he stated.

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