As I write this in early November, it is not yet clear which candidate will have secured enough votes in the Electoral College to be elected the next President of the United States. For that matter, we don’t even know which party will have a majority in the U.S. Senate with runoffs expected in Georgia. One thing we do know, however, is that we will have at least two years of a partisan divided government at the federal level (assuming a slim majority is achieved to produce either a Republican or Democratic controlled majori ty). With neither a red or blue wave sweeping the nation, the U.S. feels more divided than it has been in generations. It is hard to read the political news and not give in to despair. However, as industry leaders, we must evaluate the current situation and determine what it means for our companies and the teams we lead.
One thing we are seeing as the votes are being tallied is a run up in the U.S. stock market indices. How is that possible when there is seemingly so much uncertainty? Doesn’t the business community hate uncertainty? History shows us that divided government can be good for business. Divided government by its nature forces compromise for anything to get done and makes it less likely that sweeping tax increases become law or unreasonable regulations are approved.
What could bubble up in place of either party’s broad agenda is a much narrower pragmatism. The first challenge for policymakers returning to Washington, D.C. after the election will be the next COVID-19 stimulus package. While both Republicans and Democrats paid lip service to the need for additional stimulus to help both the government and the private sector weather the ongoing pandemic, in the final weeks before the election both sides postured in an effort to gain political advantage. Now that we are as far as possible from the 2022 midterm elections, it is critical that leaders from the Administration, the House of Representatives and the Senate come together to hammer out a compromise package that provides meaningful support to families and businesses. Such a package is in everyone’s interest. Recently the Federal Reserve chairman Jay Powell made the call for COVID-19 relief during his press conference on November 5th: “I think we’ll have a stronger recovery if we can just get at least some more fiscal support.”
During my leadership of IWPA I have tried to apply this sense of pragmatism to many of the challenges our industry faces. It was at the core of the development of our Wood Trade Compliance Training courses that provide leaders with the information and tools they can use to design compliance strategies that meet key legal and regulatory requirements that face each day. Even now, as the Trump Administration is investigating the possibility of applying tariffs to products from Vietnam, IWPA is leading efforts across many stakeholders to find a solution that addresses legitimate concerns while also preserving trade that is important to U.S. wood products importers and exporters alike. My fervent hope is that years from now we will look back at the 2020 election as the event that forced us to reckon with deep political divide in the U.S. and remember how important it is to reach across the aisle. In the meantime, IWPA will continue to work with leaders from both parties to find pragmatic solutions that ensure that our industry and the businesses that rely on the products we provide can grow and thrive.
