Trump’s tariffs have been a source of both hope and fear among Gulf South industries

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As Wall Street continues its wild swings under the weight of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, reactions in the Gulf South are mixed.

As fishers along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast celebrate the tariffs, auto workers in Alabama nervously check their 401(k)s. Businesses without ties to foreign trade shrug while those that rely on imports wonder how much of the cost they’ll have to pass on to customers.

Plenty are also waiting to see how this will shake out — though that does not mean nerves are calm, with uncertainty leading to stress.

“We don’t know yet, because they’re so new, exactly how they’re going to impact all these (thousands) of businesses we have here,” Bradley Byrne, CEO of the Mobile Chamber of Commerce and former U.S. Congressman, said. “And anytime you go through that as a business, you have some anxiety.”

Shrimpers praise tariffs for protecting industry 

One group celebrating the new tariffs from the Trump Administration is gulf coast shrimpers.

Acy Cooper, a shrimper who has three shipping boats in Venice, Louisiana, said the low price of shrimp due to imports means he can only afford to go out with one. It’s had a ripple effect on his business.

“If we don’t make money the hardware shores, the motor shops, the net shop — everybody suffers,” said Cooper, who is also the head of the Louisiana Shrimp Association. “When I don’t spend it to put stuff back on my vessel then they don’t make it.”

About 80% of all seafood consumed in the United States is imported from overseas, with much of that being shrimp. U.S. shrimpers have long said foreign shrimp is subsidized and artificially low priced. The U.S. International Trade Commission backed up those claims, and added tariffs onto shrimp imported from Ecuador, Vietnam and India — the largest exporter of shrimp to the U.S. — in late 2024.

The tariffs from the Trump Administration would be an additional cost on those imports. India, for example, now faces an additional 27% tariff.

Bosarge Boats in Pascagoula, Mississippi has been in Leann Bosarge’s family for generations. She believes the tariffs will give southern shrimpers an even playing field.

“It makes us feel like we’ve finally got someone looking out for the little guy, and we may be able to continue a heritage that we’re very proud of and feed our country,” Bosarge said. “That’s all we want to do. Give us a fair fight. We’ll win. Everyday.”

Imports drive Alabama’s economy

Byrne, with the Mobile Chamber, said President Trump deserves a pat on the back for how tariffs will help the seafood industry. The same goes for steel, with American steelmakers facing similar price dumping headwinds from China.

But most of the other businesses Byrne works with are anxious.

About one out of every seven jobs in Alabama is supported by the Port of Mobile, according to the Gov. Kay Ivey’s office, with the port’s economic impact stretching beyond state borders. Byrne said some businesses that rely on imports are now trying to see if they can get their supplies domestically. Others are still determining how much of the cost they’ll have to pass on to customers.

Byrne said he would like to see some changes made to tariffs, like excluding aerospace parts while still tariffing whole airplanes, since Airbus assembles some of its crafts in Mobile while importing parts from other countries.

He also worries about retaliatory tariffs from other countries. Transportation equipment, which includes cars, is the number one export from the port. He doesn’t want to see Alabama’s huge foreign car assembly industry hurt in a trade war.

“I am concerned,” Byrne said. “It’s something you’ve got to watch.”

Auto workers: Industry gains not worth tariff losses

The tariffs have already led to layoffs in the U.S. auto industry.

Stellantis, which owns brands like Jeep and Chrysler, announced it’s laying off 900 U.S. workers due to shuttered Mexico and Canada plants Friday. Hyundai ended its free maintenance for new cars program earlier this month.

Mercedes-Benz, meanwhile, is ramping up production at its assembly plant in Vance, Alabama and hiring more workers, a spokesperson said. The German automaker did not say how many new workers would be hired. Some of its current employees will work more shifts, starting in July.

The decision to increase production was made before Tuesday’s tariff announcements — though tariffs were one of Trump’s most consistent promises during the 2024 campaign. A Mercedes-Benz spokesperson said it’s too soon to know the tariffs’ full effect.

Ahead of the tariffs, Hyundai announced it would invest about $21 billion into U.S. manufacturing over the next four years, including a $5.8 billion steel mill in Louisiana.

But while some Hyundai workers believe it could benefit the U.S. auto industry, they’re more concerned about what it’s going to do to inflation, and what it will mean for their retirement plans. One worker described it as a scary moment.

“I would like to see more auto jobs in the United States, but putting the tariffs in there to get it — I think that’s not worth the problem that it’s causing,” said Rodney Washington, a Hyundai assembly plant worker. “And who’s paying for these tariffs? The American people. That’s what’s shameful.”

This story was produced by the Gulf States Newsroom, a collaboration between Mississippi Public Broadcasting, WBHM in Alabama, WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana and NPR.