How America’s New President Could Change the U.S. Business Landscape

Throughout his nearly year-long campaign, Donald Trump has touted his experience as a CEO and real-estate tycoon as his most significant qualification to become the next President of the United States. His theory has been that running a company counts as qualification for public office because it teaches one about taxes, how to grow a business and manage debt, among other things—all skills that he believes will translate to presidential success when it comes to sparking the U.S. economy.

“We have a great economic plan—we will double our growth and have the strongest economy anywhere in the world,” Trump said in his victory speech early Wednesday morning. “I’ve spent my entire life in business looking at the untapped potential in projects and people around the world. That is what I now want to do for our country.”

Now, in the wake of Trump’s presidential election, the business and finance community is weighing in. According to a CBS news exit poll analysis, Trump is seen as a better steward of the economy than his opponent. Among many other things, Trump’s economic plan involves cutting taxes, eliminating regulations and overhauling trade deals. Doing so, he says, could help grow the economy at a four percent clip. Currently, the U.S. GDP is growing at an annual rate of around two percent.

“I’m an optimistic person, and on that basis, I’m hopeful that good things can come out of his presidency. From a business standpoint, there are some interesting initiatives that Trump is promising in the first 100 days of his presidency,” said Scott Gittrich, the founder and CEO of Toppers Pizza*. “If he’s successful at pulling things off, there are certainly some positive impacts to the entire business world.”  

U.S. businesses are now bracing for revamped trade pacts and a potential crackdown on overseas operations, coupled with the promise of lower taxes, less regulation and higher infrastructure spending at home. In particular, Trump has been championing large tax cuts across the board, combined with proposals to reduce spending. Under his plan, top earners—taking in more than $699,000 a year—would see average annual tax reductions of about $215,000, according to an analysis by the non-partisan Tax Policy Center. Companies could see an even bigger payoff. He’d reduce the corporate tax rate to 15 percent, from where it stands now at up to 35 percent, and allow manufacturers to immediately write off the cost of their investments.  

The President-elect has also made it clear that he wants to rebuild the U.S.’s manufacturing base, and he will have a strong hand when it comes to trade. He has consistently taken a protectionist stance that would punish China and Mexico with new tariffs of 45 percent and 35 percent, respectively. He’d nix the pending Trans-Pacific partnership. He also suggested he would penalize U.S. companies that move jobs overseas.

All told, such changes to the U.S. economy could mean good news for businesses as a whole—including the franchise industry. But overall, one thing is clear: it’ll require hard work from all parties involved—Republican or Democrat—to enact real change and put the country on a long-term pathway to economic growth.

“The most important thing now is that we all work together. Trump may be unpredictable in a lot of ways, but he’s also a business person. For that reason, you have to believe that there are things he would do that could be good for business and could accelerate our economy,” Gittrich said. “That’s my biggest hope. Recovery so far has been sluggish at best, and Trump believes that he can bring things back. It’s a lot of heavy lifting, but I have no reason to not go ahead and believe that good things are on the horizon.”