The Election Is Over. What Comes Next?

“Life’s like a box of chocolates; you never know what you’re going to get.”

The 30-plus-year staying power of that line from Forrest Gump is pretty amazing, and as we look toward a second Trump administration, it could definitely be applicable.

Now that the election is over, industry stakeholders have a better sense of what the environment could be for marine construction and commercial navigation. President-elect Donald Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill,” which could be positive for the tank barge industry. The next administration will also look at reducing regulations, a continuation of Trump’s first term agenda and something businesses generally like to hear. There’s also the impact of the Supreme Court’s Loper Bright decision ending the judicial doctrine of Chevron deference and the fallout related to various agency rules and decisions.

Then there’s the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency. Could Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy set their sights on the Corps of Engineer’s Civil Works program? If they did, what could that mean for the way the Corps goes about new construction and operations and maintenance? This industry has fought hard for the Jones Act and against privatization of locks and dams.

Trump’s tariff policies toward China will provoke a lot of speculation and discussion, but they likely won’t be a big factor in marine construction. That’s because President Joe Biden kept most of Trump’s duties on Chinese steel. In September, Biden finalized increases to duties on certain Chinese products, with the tariff rate rising to 100 percent on Chinese electric vehicles, 50 percent on solar cells and 25 percent on electrical vehicle batteries, critical minerals, steel, aluminum, face masks and ship-to-shore cranes, according to the U.S. Trade Representative’s Office.

Lots of people like to look into their crystal ball between November and January following a presidential election. Many questions remain about how the coming year and the shift in political power in Washington will play out, but one thing is for sure. We have what we have, and as Forrest’s mother said, “You have to do the best with what God gave you.”