6 Mar, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
Mortgage rates have declined but could stay at a level that makes it tough to afford a home
By ALEX VEIGA, AP Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Mortgage rates have been mostly declining in recent weeks, helping encourage prospective home shoppers just as the spring homebuying season gets going.
But the same factors that have pulled mortgage rates to their lowest level since December — signs that the U.S. economy is slowing and uncertainty over the potential fallout from the Trump administration’s tariffs on imports — are clouding the outlook for where mortgage rates will go from here.
“We do not anticipate significant relief from high mortgage rates in the near future because of inflation remaining stubbornly high, which will not be helped by the tariffs that the Trump administration appears committed to rolling out,” said Joel Berner, senior economist at Realtor.com.
The average rate on a 30-year mortgage in the U.S. has declined seven weeks in a row from 7.04% in mid-January to 6.63% this week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. A year earlier, it averaged 6.88%.
The average rate is now at its lowest level since Dec. 12, when it was 6.6%. It briefly fell to a 2-year low last September, but remains more than double the 2.65% record low the average rate hit in January 2021.
Borrowing costs on 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, popular with homeowners seeking to refinance their home loan to a lower rate, also eased this week. The average rate fell to 5.79% from 5.94% last week. A year ago, it averaged 6.22%, Freddie Mac said.
Mortgage rates are influenced by several factors, including bond market investors’ expectations for future inflation, global demand for U.S. Treasurys and the Federal Reserve’s interest rate policy decisions.
The recent decline in mortgage rates echoes moves in the 10-year Treasury yield, which lenders use as a guide for pricing home loans.
The yield, which was at 4.79% in mid-January, has been mostly easing since then, reflecting worries about the economy’s growth and the potential impact from the Trump administration’s decision to impose tariffs on several of the country’s biggest trading partners. The yield was at 4.30% in midday trading Thursday.
While one could say the bond market jitters have ultimately benefited home shoppers by leading to lower mortgage rates, the trajectory for rates from here is far from certain.
Tariffs can drive inflation higher, which could translate into higher yields on the 10-year Treasury note, pushing up mortgage rates. That’s because bond investors demand higher returns as long as inflation remains elevated.
And then there’s the Fed, which has signaled a more cautious approach as it gauges where inflation is headed and what policies the Trump administration will pursue.
So far, the steady decline in mortgage rates this year hasn’t been enough to drive home sales higher. Sales of previously occupied U.S. homes fell in January as rising mortgage rates and prices froze out many would-be homebuyers despite a wider selection of properties on the market.
Pending home sales, a bellwether for future completed sales, point to potentially further sales declines in coming months. They slid to an all-time low in January.
Still, last week, mortgage applications jumped 20.4% from the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. And a measure of home loan refinancing applications surged 37%, the MBA said.
While a pickup in mortgage applications is typical for this time of year, the sharp increase is a signal that mortgage rates have fallen enough to spur some buyers off the fence.
The pullback in rates comes at a good time for home shoppers. The inventory of homes on the market has risen sharply from a year ago and prices are rising more slowly nationally and declining in many metropolitan areas, such as Austin, Dallas and Tampa, Florida.
Still, more attractive mortgage rates may not be enough to motivate home shoppers if the economy and labor market worsen.
“Inflation is still a problem, but now the economy is starting to show signs of weakness,” said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin. “What that means to the housing market is that those two factors make buyers more reluctant to jump into the market.”
Agency Growth Starts with Existing Clients written by Jarret Redding read more at Duct Tape Marketing
The Duct Tape Marketing Podcast with Max Traylor
In this episode of the Duct Tape Marketing Podcast, I interviewed Max Traylor, consultant, author of The Agency Survival Guide, and host of Beers with Max. Max helps marketing agencies rethink their approach to agency growth by focusing on agency upselling, client retention, and long-term relationship strategies.
During our conversation, Max shared powerful insights on why agencies should move beyond constantly chasing new clients and instead focus on cross-selling strategies and client upsell tactics to generate sustainable agency revenue. From the dangers of relying too heavily on retainer agreements to the benefits of project-based pricing and strategic marketing leadership, Max explains why aligning with clients’ business objectives is the key to profitable, long-term success in today’s fast-evolving digital agency landscape.
Key Takeaways:
- Successful agency growth relies more on deepening client relationships than constantly pursuing new clients.
- Agency upselling and cross-selling strategies should be treated as core parts of the agency sales process, not afterthoughts.
- Agencies should focus on providing marketing leadership services to guide small business marketing strategies, especially when internal leadership is lacking.
- Retainers often lead to scope creep and reduced agency profitability — project-based pricing offers better control and margins.
- Agencies that shift from transactional services to strategic marketing advisory roles build stronger, more resilient businesses.
- Regular client check-ins, focused on business goals rather than marketing metrics, unlock new opportunities for client upsell tactics.
- Pricing confidently — and aligning agency pricing strategies with value provided — helps agencies avoid the race to the bottom.
Chapters:
- [00:09] Introducing Max Traylor
- [01:29] Are Agencies in Trouble?
- [04:25] Leadership is Missing
- [07:00] Growing Revenue with Current Clients
- [11:46] Are Retainers the Right Way To Go?
- [15:36] Productizing Your Services
- [18:01] Advice on Starting a Consulting Service Today
More About Max Traylor:
- Check out Max Traylor’s Website
- Connect with Max Traylor on LinkedIn
- Read Consultants Survival Guide by Max Traylor
John Jantsch (00:01.009)
Hello and welcome to another episode of the duct tape marketing podcast. This is John Jantsch and my guest today is Max Traylor. He helps agencies upsell and cross sell their existing clients. His approach centers on building relationships with decision makers and aligning with their business objectives, which ultimately leads to long-term retention and growth. Max is also the host of beers with Max podcast where he interviews other agency advisors and the author of the agency survival guide book.
series. So Max, welcome to the show.
Max Traylor (00:32.11)
Yeah, I didn’t realize the intro was so long when I was writing it. But yeah, you nailed it. You got it all. What do do now?
John Jantsch (00:37.273)
I cut some out, believe it or not.
You know what? I stumbled on my name, actually, because this is my third show today. So I think I’m struggling. So did I also see you drink a beer?
Max Traylor (00:49.912)
Yeah.
No, that was water. Uh, well you, you caught me with some, uh, cambocha, you know, cause for the gut. Yeah, me too. But I, you know, I’m on, I’m on 10 and a half weeks, uh, after breaking my foot and I got out of the boot. got out of the big walkie boot thing two days ago and, yeah, beer does not help with the healing of bones. So I’m really trying. Um, I’m really trying.
John Jantsch (00:54.183)
I know, that a runner.
okay. All right. I was kind of hoping it was a beer,
John Jantsch (01:06.727)
yeah. wow. Wow.
John Jantsch (01:14.971)
I’m I’m out, out, I’m out.
Yeah, yeah. No, no, you, got to do it. You got to get back out there. So there’s a lot of intrepidation in the agency world right now. I’m seeing, you know, a lot of, our mutual friend, I think I saw you comment on, Marcus Sheridan had a recent post, basically saying the, agency world is over that, you know, AI is replacing a lot of the things that agencies traditionally have done. Where do you stand on, on that? kind of sky is falling.
Max Traylor (01:23.406)
Yeah.
John Jantsch (01:49.255)
approach.
Max Traylor (01:49.856)
Yeah, I I was, I was, I was saying that 10 years ago. and that’s when I started is 10 years ago. So I think, I think there’s always a healthy dose of one thing going out the door, but you know, I, I was originally, I was seeing what was going on in, in the, in the Martech boost. So you got a lot of, it reduced the barriers of entry for agencies down to zero. So a lot of new entries into the market.
John Jantsch (01:53.925)
Yeah.
John Jantsch (02:11.867)
Yeah, yeah, Sure.
Max Traylor (02:18.786)
They knew how to design things because it was, you know, CMS world of like low code sites. So people could look like they knew what they were doing very easily. And it causes prices. caused prices to drop across the board. Then you had that surge of, gig network websites, which I think was the first sort of chop at the tactical deliverable.
John Jantsch (02:22.961)
Yeah, right.
Max Traylor (02:43.31)
work that agencies were doing and then I think I think AI just gave it the you the one to knockout punch on On that one. So yeah, I would yeah
John Jantsch (02:49.285)
Yeah. you also, I would say a version in there, squeezed in there somewhere, is you had all the folks that had a team in Philippines doing work and that really eroded pricing as well.
Max Traylor (03:04.054)
Yeah, sure. Yeah. just all the but I mean, I’ve always been in on team strategic work. I think that the the value of a third party is in their expertise, not what they can do. And the the doing of things will always go up and down in terms of you need a specialist to do it or some piece of technology just took that person’s job. I think it’s very difficult to have a long term sustainable professional service business.
where the service you provide is constantly changing, whether that’s being taken by AI or whatever it is. But if you have something strategic, if you specialize in understanding the way people buy, I mean, that might change a little bit over the course of 10 years. And that’s where you can really build up some expertise and monetize it.
John Jantsch (03:37.671)
Yeah.
John Jantsch (03:50.821)
Yeah, you you see, I’ve been doing this for a long time. So I’ve seen the wave of digital marketing agencies, social marketing agencies, know, that just like kind now you’re seeing AI agencies, people just kind of hopping on the latest train, and they eventually all get wiped out.
Max Traylor (04:09.42)
Yes. the train does leave the station eventually and you’re caught reinventing yourself. Nobody knows who you are. you’re, you’re, you’re, cutting, cutting prices. Yeah. So, that’s, that’s sort of the narrative that I keep talking about is like, be careful aligning yourself with the tactical work. will constantly changed. It will constantly be undercut. is low margin. It’s volume game.
John Jantsch (04:14.503)
Yeah.
Max Traylor (04:37.056)
And unless you’re a volume player, which most of us in this game are not, then we’re going get hurt out there.
John Jantsch (04:43.975)
So I have been preaching that because I think what’s happening is not only strategy become more important. think especially in the small to mid-sized business that really doesn’t have a marketing structure, certainly no marketing leadership, that actually providing marketing leadership as a service I think is sort of the next level of what being strategic means. I’m curious what you think about that idea.
Max Traylor (05:09.474)
Yeah, I agree with that. However, I continue to find that leadership in general and decision making in general is at an all time low. So if the idea is that we’re going to provide marketing leadership and come up alongside sales leadership, product leadership, what I’m finding is that leadership just isn’t there.
There’s rarely a defined decision-making process. There’s rarely a delegation of authority to the members of that leadership team. There’s nothing that says, this is the information we’re going to look at, and we’re going to make a decision every quarter for our budget in this regard. So if that’s not there, then what are you coming up alongside as a marketing?
John Jantsch (06:01.799)
Well, I guess my point is, is I agree with you. there’s nothing to come alongside. So why don’t you bring it to them?
Max Traylor (06:10.412)
Yes. And, so with a yes and, because I don’t think the, I don’t think your task is to bring marketing leadership. I think your task is to bring leadership and you should be prepared for the first time to facilitate a leadership planning session. So I think it’s one, I think you need to skip, or just recognize that you’re, you’re not just leading marketing as the person that
that owns that space, you’re also needing to facilitate probably for the first time, a decision making process, a planning cadence. And so you need to be well versed in the other departments in the business and you can’t, you can’t just assume that everything’s going to function the way you think it should function.
John Jantsch (06:57.113)
I think you should assume completely the opposite. Of course.
Max Traylor (06:59.662)
Yes, assume complete dysfunction. is the way. Sometimes I talk to smaller agencies and they believe that going up market, those clients are going to have their stuff together. You and I both know that it’s more chaotic the larger the organizations get, which makes it a lot easier to provide value in a strategic way because they’re so dysfunctional.
John Jantsch (07:12.773)
Yeah, yeah,
John Jantsch (07:24.391)
Yeah. Yeah. It’s just more meetings. It’s what I’ve found. Yeah. So let’s, let’s get to your favorite topic. Shall we? I know that you have been for some amount of time talking about this idea of here’s an idea. You’ve got a client already. Why don’t you get more business out of them? Scale the relationship that you already have. So talk a little bit about, and I know you’ve got some success stories you could talk about.
Max Traylor (07:27.95)
It is more meetings. That’s correct. Yeah. So you got to charge.
John Jantsch (07:52.699)
But talk a little bit about that mindset shift even.
Max Traylor (07:56.386)
Yeah, I mean, we want to make, we want to make revenue. Let’s start there. We can all agree. We’re at the, we’re at the fireplace. Cool. you get revenue from two sides of the business. You get new clients and you upsell cross sell to existing clients. That’s the only way to get revenue. That’s the only way to grow revenue. And all of the studies are showing a downward trend in the number of new meetings, a downward trend in the number of new logos coming on. is getting harder.
John Jantsch (08:24.005)
Mm.
Max Traylor (08:25.518)
person I was interviewing the other day had some study in his hand. all do. it was meetings are across the board down 30 % in 2024 and it’s only getting worse in 2025. The numbers are irrelevant. Just go ask people. You and I talked to enough people. New logos are getting harder. That’s the theme of 2023, 2024. Everything was sunshine and rainbows before that. So my question to everyone out there is when new logos are hard,
why can’t we look at upsell cross sell as a reliable revenue growth engine. And the reason is, no one’s paying attention to it. No one’s incentivizing for it. No one’s training for it. No one’s holding people accountable. We’re completely asleep at the wheel. It’s as if we hired a bunch of salespeople without incentivizing them or training them. And by the way, they’ve never worked in sales before. That’s what’s going on in the agency space.
John Jantsch (09:23.015)
All right, so let’s talk about mistakes on this, because that seems like a simple concept, but it also seems like there’s ways to screw it up. Because I’ve seen agencies that have business development folks, and they’re like, no, that’s my job. But they have no real relationship with the client, whereas the account manager or whoever, project manager, whatever you call them, is working with the client every day.
How do you see that working? Is it a business development function or is it train your account managers to look for opportunities?
Max Traylor (09:53.134)
I think that if it had to be a business account function, that would be better than it is today because I don’t see what you’ve just described where an account executive that is responsible for a revenue quota is going, okay, I could sell to new logos. Okay, my pipeline’s a little dry. What do we have for existing clients? Who can I upsell there? That is not the mindset because what typically happens is the principal assigns
And I say assigns in big sarcastic quotes, assigns upsell cross-sell client retention to the services side of the business. And it’s actually a no fly zone. It’s a no fly zone. It’s a don’t go there. It’s not your job. You won’t be incentivized for it. That’s the attitude towards the sales team in an effort to, make sure they focus on getting new logos.
And so honestly, if, if we just broke down the barriers and just admitted that our service people aren’t willing to aren’t willing or able at the moment to pull their weight and upsell clients and you just unleashed the sales team on existing clients, I think they’d get pretty far. I think they do pretty well. But it’s not happening.
John Jantsch (11:06.799)
Yeah. Yeah. How, how, are they going to identify the opportunities? mean, theoretically, the account executive is in there going over the way they should do this. We should do this. Here’s an opportunity. How does, how does the sales person can identify those?
Max Traylor (11:20.618)
I don’t care who it is, but to identify sales opportunities, you ask questions. And right now agencies are spending months, if not years, not asking questions at all. They’re delivering reports on clicks and whatever we think the client says is their business objectives, which they’re never, we’re never delivering against business objectives. We’re delivering some marketing metric.
John Jantsch (11:24.881)
Yeah, yeah.
Max Traylor (11:43.722)
We’re talking about the things that we have delivered. We haven’t had a business conversation since the sales process. That’s the reality for most clients. So I don’t care who does it. I don’t care what dress you put on it. I don’t care if you bring in a third party. If it’s sales, you come in and you say, hey, I want to ask you some questions about your business. What are you? What are you? What initiatives are you investing in across the board? Let’s talk about sales. Let’s talk about product. Let’s talk about.
finance, let’s talk about anything that’s not marketing. Like let’s, let’s just, let’s talk about real stuff here. You ask questions, you understand what they’re spending money on. And then you say, Hmm, how can I add value, to those business objectives? Like that’s what sale that sales. So that’s what we got to do.
John Jantsch (12:27.399)
Yeah. So a lot of agencies structure their fees around retainers. I know how you feel about this. So I’m just going to let you have this one. What about, what do you tell that agency says, well, we’re locked into this retainer. I, I, I’m, I’ll set you up. think you think retainers are not the right way.
Max Traylor (12:38.766)
Did I say that before? I don’t know.
Max Traylor (12:52.182)
Well, like, you know, when you go bowling and there’s the people with the bumpers? Yeah, yeah. Or or or you’re riding a bike and there’s training wheels. Yeah. Retainers are for the non confident. Retainers are a trade off. First of all, we all know that any retainer relationship is going to get less profitable as time goes on because the client is incentivized to get more and more from you for what they’re paying. Great. So profitability goes down.
John Jantsch (12:58.95)
Yeah.
John Jantsch (13:19.111)
Yeah.
Max Traylor (13:22.104)
The other challenge is it’s nearly impossible to grow or expand that account when you’re on retainer, because the whole point is we’re on retainer and you get whatever you need from us. So there’s no upsell. Retainer also breeds this sort of complacency throughout the entire account team. And all they’re thinking about is how do I hang on to this? It’s a very defensive posture. Ultimately, the client starts to gain control. They start to set
scope and tell agency what to do. You’ve lost control, you’re done, you’re going to lose that account. So you see a lot of agencies that are not confident in their upsell motion go after retainers. And honestly, I think it’s a false sense of security because if a client is going to cancel after month three, they’re going to cancel. The fact that you have a contract that lasts a year is completely irrelevant. They could berate you across the internet and you’ll be begging to get out
track. So let’s be real. What is much more profitable and naturally breeds upsell is projects. Everybody hates projects because you have to keep selling them. There is a middle ground. I always tell agencies, look, you want to have that long term conversation. You want to create a roadmap that aligns with their business objectives for the course of the year, because that’s when they decide how much budget is going to be allocated to say marketing.
John Jantsch (14:23.377)
Yeah.
Max Traylor (14:47.538)
But what I wouldn’t do is say, OK, here’s exactly what I’m to do with that budget for the course of the year. I’m going to say, look, we as as an as your new marketing leader and I know organization that you don’t have a cadence, but as your new marketing leader, I suggest that once a quarter we as a leadership team get together and decide how this budget will be allocated. Will create a plan that says here the goals here are the roles, the timeline, the budget considerations.
John Jantsch (15:08.817)
Yeah.
Max Traylor (15:17.27)
And what that does is it gives you the benefit of a project because you can scope that out very defined. So you maintain your margins and you maintain control of the client account, but it also forces the leadership team, the budget holding decision makers to come to the table once a quarter and you sit and you listen.
John Jantsch (15:33.574)
Mm-hmm.
John Jantsch (15:40.241)
So this sort of relates to that. We work with a lot of, end up, I have ended up having a lot of conversations with agencies that feel like they, you know, they can’t get what they’re worth or what, you know, they’re always in this competitive environment. How do you, a lot of times it’s just, they won’t charge what they’re worth. You know, because they’re afraid they won’t get the work.
Max Traylor (15:59.446)
Yeah, honestly, step one, you don’t even have to you don’t have to pay me you don’t have to pay john just raise your prices like you’ll it’s a sobering exercise. There’s there’s someone there’s somewhere in between what you’re charging today, and what you’re worth and you got to find that but yes, that’s that’s step one for many people.
John Jantsch (16:05.221)
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
John Jantsch (16:17.575)
Seth Godin in his last book, and I never heard this put so succinctly. said, you know, pricing is how you pick your clients and how you pick your competitors. And I was like, yeah, that’s, that’s very real.
Max Traylor (16:31.212)
Yeah, yeah, my dad always said, you know, if you get a yes, that all you’ve learned is that you didn’t charge enough. No is the beginning of getting to the price that they’re willing to pay.
John Jantsch (16:38.627)
Right.
John Jantsch (16:45.243)
We went through a period and I don’t know if we’re out of it or still in it, know, where a lot of agencies were very much trying to productize their approach, you know, package their approach, their deliverables, you know, that they could say, well, if we charge this for this deliverable, we know what our margin is. Where do you fall on that type of approach? I still see a lot of it. It seems like it’s waning a little. Where do you fall on that?
Max Traylor (17:06.956)
Yeah, I mean, my first book was how to productize your consulting services. I mean, I think the term productize gets confused a lot. What I really mean is be an adult responsible service provider. Like you can’t just say it’s chaos. You can’t say it’s different for every client. No, grow up. You need a service process. Of course, clients are going to get, you know, different deliverables and things, but you have to decide these are the companies I’m working with.
John Jantsch (17:10.041)
Right. Yeah.
John Jantsch (17:14.789)
Yeah, yeah.
John Jantsch (17:23.675)
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Max Traylor (17:35.362)
this is the process we’re going to use to deliver the value and you have to make some decisions on on what you know, piece of the value proposition that you want to contribute to. So I for years, there’s been a general lack of decision making on positioning and on service process. It’s been complete chaos. So yes, I’ve used that term product ties just to say you deliver the same thing to the same people for the same price or you don’t have a business. have operational chaos. what I’ve, what I,
John Jantsch (18:00.945)
Yeah, yeah.
Max Traylor (18:03.35)
I guess what I’ve seen is yes, more and more companies have done that. let’s say 10 years ago, sales consultancy world was very mature in this area. The world did not need another sales methodology, right? There was 25 million books on this is the sales methodology and clients got tired of that. They were like, look, I don’t care what, I don’t care what your methodology is. Just what are you going to do for me? Marketing was about 10 years behind. had 10 years of taking chaos into these named.
John Jantsch (18:17.339)
Mm-hmm.
Max Traylor (18:33.07)
methodologies and this is our inbound thing. Now every buzzword in the English language has been claimed. Clients are fatigued. Yes, I think there’s no longer this. we have this proprietary named thing. So no, I don’t think there’s that there’s that lure to it from a sales standpoint, but you still need to create that product mindset within your services team to get
to get repeatable operations, to be able to set and meet expectations with clients. You still have to do it. It’s just not like, it’s not, you’re not putting it in bright lights and going, look at what we can do. It’s like, yeah, I look AI can tell me that too.
John Jantsch (19:13.37)
Right.
All right. So your answer may be don’t, but if somebody were listening to this and saying, I’m going to start a consulting agency today, how, would you tell them? Where would you tell them to go? What would you tell them they had to have to be thinking about? What would you tell them they possibly, you know, can’t possibly do?
Max Traylor (19:40.642)
Well, the first thing I would do is ask myself, where do I have experience? My grandfather always said, you have to know the territory. And the worst thing that people do, like you have perfectly capable business owners out there that start agencies, but they go through this phase of, we’re going to see what works. And, you know, they ask for some referrals and they’ll spend years in chaos, not really developing an identity for themselves and whatever identity they do develop.
completely tactical, replaceable, marginalized by people in decision making seats. So they have to just look at their career and say, what business acumen do I have? Okay, I’m going to do that. And they have to make that scary decision. And when they make that scary decision, you got to spend the first year talking to as many people as you can in that space, figure out what they need, do that for them. Those are those are the basics that I just don’t see.
people, people do. I think you can develop an incredibly successful business if you A, choose your target market and B, are relentless about speaking to them, understanding what their needs are. those two things. I think you’re good. think, I think agency is in a great place. but not for most given the mindset that I encounter, you know, day in and day out.
John Jantsch (20:54.748)
Yeah.
John Jantsch (21:02.053)
Yeah, I said a billion times, people don’t care, don’t want what we sell. They want their problem solved. I think that’s what, that’s what we have to continue to focus on. Yeah.
Max Traylor (21:10.188)
Yeah, so you are you are problem finders. So you got to your thing, you got to go figure out what their problem is. And then you got to help them solve the problem. I would I would still say that, you know, there are are two steps to solving a problem. It’s helping the client understand how to solve that problem. That I think is where the money is. That’s selling knowledge that’s selling expertise. Then there’s the doing of that thing. That’s the commoditized area that’s either going to be my AI or, you know, shark.
John Jantsch (21:27.463)
Yeah.
Max Traylor (21:39.278)
Price chopped chum water with.
whatever generation is entering the market now, I can’t keep track of it. But those guys, those people.
John Jantsch (21:47.431)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Max Traylor (21:55.197)
Uh-huh. But they’re out there cutting prices is what they’re doing.
Max Traylor (22:09.046)
As a great new social network, LinkedIn. Yeah. Max trailer, LinkedIn. I’m always saying opinionated things and posting videos.
John Jantsch (22:11.717)
Yeah, okay. Yeah, that’s
John Jantsch (22:17.605)
Yeah. No, your, your feed is, is, lively and interesting. How’s that? That was a tough one. Okay. That’s how it was, man, as well. Again, thanks for stopping by. Hopefully we’ll run into you one of these days out there on the road.
Max Traylor (22:23.458)
Thank you.
Max Traylor (22:26.978)
Yes, I took it as such.
Max Traylor (22:35.054)
Cheers.
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5 Mar, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
Trump administration signals that the tariffs against Canada and Mexico may soon have exemptions
By JOSH BOAK and ROB GILLIES, Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said there might be carveouts coming to the 25% tariffs placed on Canada and Mexico by President Donald Trump, a softening of the U.S. position after Tuesday’s tax hike hurt the stock market, worried consumers and started a trade war.
But, Trump’s tariffs have stirred up bad blood among allies who see his aggression on trade as misguided, leading Canada to suggest it will reject any offer to water down the day-old tariffs. Nor is the trade war necessarily a brief skirmish as the White House maintains that even harsher taxes on imports are coming in April, even as businesses and consumers worry that the cost of paying the taxes will crush economic growth, worsen inflation and cause layoffs.
Still, the administration is grappling with the fallout of tariffs beloved by Trump that could create serious blowback for his political mandate to lower prices. The president has recognized that his tariffs could cause some financial pain, yet he has repeatedly tried to suggest the tariffs will lead to more domestic investment and factory work.
In a Wednesday interview with Bloomberg Television, Lutnick said that Trump would update his tariff plans with an afternoon announcement, possibly sparing sectors such as autos from the import taxes.
“There are going to be tariffs, let’s be clear,” Lutnick said. “But what he’s thinking about is which sections of the market that can maybe — maybe — he’ll consider giving them relief until we get to, of course, April 2.”
On April 2, Trump plans to announce what he calls “reciprocal” tariffs to match the tariffs, taxes and subsidies provided by other countries. That could dramatically increase the tariff rates charged globally while maintaining the risk of a broader tariff.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is not willing to lift Canada’s retaliatory tariffs if Trump leaves any tariffs on Canada, a senior government official told The Associated Press. The official confirmed the stance on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.
Other Canadian officials are publicly echoing this sentiment.
“We’re not interested in meeting in the middle and having some reduced tariff. Canada wants the tariffs removed,” Canadian Finance Minister Dominic LeBlanc told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.
Lutnick said he would talk on Wednesday morning with Trump about the possible options regarding Canada and Mexico, saying that both countries are working to address the U.S. president’s concerns about drug trafficking. Lutnick said to expect Trump to announce his decision Wednesday afternoon.
On Tuesday, Trump put 25% taxes on imports from Mexico and Canada, taxing Canadian energy products such as oil and electricity at a lower 10% rate. The president also doubled the 10% tariff he placed on China to 20%. The administration has said the tariffs are about stopping the smuggling of drugs such as fentanyl, but Trump also suggested that the tariffs are about getting rid of persistent U.S. trade deficits.
The taxes almost immediately triggered retaliatory measures by Canada and China, with Mexico planning to announce its response on Sunday. The U.S. stock market has given up all of the gains since Trump’s victory in last year’s presidential election and consumers are already exhausted by inflation and worried the costs of the tax hike would lead to higher prices. Those concerns may have prompted Lutnick to signal a possible retreat in a Tuesday afternoon interview with the Fox Business Network.
“I think he’s going to figure out, you do more, and I’ll meet you in the middle in some way,” Lutnick told Fox Business Network, remarks that caused the stock market to pare its losses on the day.
But in his joint address to Congress on Tuesday night, Trump seemed intent on pushing forward with tariffs.
The U.S. president tried to play down the possible economic harm as “a little disturbance,” as the administration has suggested that the estimates of higher inflation and slower growth in most outside economic forecasts are overblown.
“It may be a little bit of an adjustment period,” he said after claiming that farmers would benefit from reciprocal tariffs on countries that have tariffs on U.S. exports. “You have to bear with me again and this will be even better.”
Trump also said in his speech that he spoke on Tuesday with “all three, the top people” at the major U.S. automakers and “they’re so excited.” The big three automakers are General Motors, Ford and Stellantis, the parent company of Chrysler and Jeep. The domestic auto sector would be especially vulnerable to tariffs as it depends on Mexico and Canada as part of its supply chain.
Ontario Premier Doug Ford told the AP the auto sector in the U.S. and Canada will last approximately 10 days before they start shutting down the assembly lines in the U.S. and in Ontario.
“People are going to lose their jobs,” he said.
Trudeau said on Tuesday that his country would plaster tariffs on over $100 billion (U.S. dollars) of American goods over the course of 21 days, stressing that the United States had abandoned a long-standing friendship.
“Today, the United States launched a trade war against Canada, their closest partner and ally, their closest friend. At the same time, they are talking about working positively with Russia, appeasing Vladimir Putin, a lying, murderous dictator. Make that make sense,” Trudeau said on Tuesday.
Mexico indicated it would announce its own countermeasures on Sunday.
Beijing responded with tariffs of up to 15% on a wide array of U.S. farm exports. It also expanded the number of U.S. companies subject to export controls and other restrictions by about two dozen.
“If war is what the U.S. wants, be it a tariff war, a trade war or any other type of war, we’re ready to fight till the end,” China’s embassy to the United States posted on X on Tuesday night.
In response to China, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” that the United States is “prepared” for war against the world’s second largest economy.
“Those who long for peace must prepare for war,” Hegseth said Wednesday morning. “If we want to deter war with the Chinese or others, we have to be strong.”
Gillies reported from Toronto.
5 Mar, 2025 | Admin | No Comments
Colorado business owners, industry leaders fret over fallout from tariffs
On the first day of the U.S. imposing high tariffs on its biggest trading partners, Colorado business people said the actions by the Trump administration pose an existential threat to their livelihoods.
Business owners and agriculture representatives aired their fears about the fallout during a town hall-style gathering organized by Farmers for Free Trade and hosted by the World Trade Center Denver on Tuesday. The forum came as the U.S. launched 25% tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada and doubled tariffs on China to 20%.
Canada vowed to hit more than $100 billion of U.S. goods with tariffs and Beijing retaliated with tariffs of up to 15% on a series of U.S. farm products.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said she would announce Sunday what American products her country will target in response.
A new twist came Tuesday evening when Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in an interview on the Fox Business Network that the levies on Canada and Mexico might be reduced after the two countries pledged to do more to stem the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.
Whatever turn the trade dispute takes next, speakers at the town hall said the outcome will not be good for consumers or their business if the levies remain.
“These tariffs pose a threat not only for consumer prices, but they pose a threat to companies like mine,” said Jeremy Petersen, founder, president and CEO of Colorado-based Identity Pet Nutrition.
Petersen and his brother started the company in 2018. The company, which is small but fast-growing, gets 100% of its products from Canada. Petersen calculated that the 25% tax increase will raise the retail price by 32.6%.
“We have no choice but to pass that cost onto the consumer,” he added.
More than 80% of the potash fertilizer used by U.S. farmers comes from Canada, said Nicholas Colglazier, executive director of the Colorado Corn Promotion Council. Other products such as pharmaceuticals for livestock and pesticides for crops are imported from China and Canada.
“We’re seeing the costs to grow corn greatly exceed what you can make per acre,” Colglazier said. “This is only going to exacerbate the problem.”
President Donald Trump campaigned on getting tough with U.S. trading partners. His reasons for the tariffs have varied: to persuade Canada and Mexico to crack down on illegal border crossings and the flow of fentanyl into the U.S.; raise money for the country; and spur the return of manufacturing to America.
Trump was set to spring the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada in February, but called a 30-day timeout. A 10% levy on goods from China went forward as planned.
Brian Kuehl, executive director of Farmers for Free Trade, called the tariffs “unnecessary and damaging.”
“Canada and Mexico are two of our closest trading partners and obviously our two closest neighbors,” Kuehl said. “We entered into a trade agreement with them in 2019 that President Trump negotiated. It’s a great trade agreement and today it appears we’re breaking that trade agreement.”
Kuehl chalks up Trump’s push to levy tariffs to what he believes is a view of the world as a zero-sum game. “It’s the idea that I only win if you lose. That’s just not the way the world operates any more. Our trade supply chains with Canada and Mexico are tightly intertwined, and we all win because of that.”
If tariffs were limited to just finished goods, that would be less damaging than if they were applied to inputs, or the components used in manufacturing. From a steak on the plate to a Ford truck sitting in a driveway, there is a lot of back and forth between Canada, the U.S. and Mexico, and if tariffs hit multiple times it would drive costs up far beyond 25%.
When it comes to the U.S. states most vulnerable to the latest round of tariffs, Colorado ranks 20th, with nearly half of its $17.8 billion in imports coming from Canada, Mexico and China, according to an analysis by LendingTree. Montana is the most vulnerable state with 94% of its imports coming from those three countries.
Colorado importers paid $459 million in tariffs last year and that amount could rise to $1.4 billion a year, according to an analysis from Farmers for Free Trade and the World Trade Center Denver. Tariffs on steel and aluminum imports alone could add $35 million in purchasing costs.
“None of my learning, none of my teaching, has ever taught me that import tariffs will improve economic welfare,” said Kishore Kulkarni, an economics professor at Metropolitan State University of Denver who has specialized in international trade for the past 45 years.
Tariffs can protect domestic producers, but over time protected industries become less competitive. And trading partners respond with tariffs of their own, causing overall trade to shrink and reducing global economic output, Kishore said.
“An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind,” Kishore, reciting a quote attributed to Mahatma Gandhi.
Gail Ross, the chief operating office for Krimson Klover, a women’s apparel boutique in Boulder, said the company looked at moving its manufacturing to the U.S. in 2019 when Trump increased tariffs on China during his first term as president.
Factories in Los Angeles weren’t interested in Krimson Klover’s business because the volume was too small. A Denver company’s price was close to what Krimson Klover could pay, but “what I could get out of China in four months what would take nine months.”
Sandra Payne is president of Denver Concrete Vibrator, which makes equipment that settles and strengthens concrete for such large commercial projects as bridges, dams and stadiums. The company used to import much of its steel, aluminum, rubber and other goods from China, but now gets many of the products from Canada and Mexico.
“Which is fine, that’s great,” Payne said, “but that means that all of these tariffs now will impact us seriously.”
And Payne worries about her customers if the company’s prices go up. “We don’t want to raise our prices all the time. We raised them a couple of times in the last couple years, but margins are tight and we will be forced to deal with this somehow.”
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