Taxes, Tariffs, Trade – Manufacturing A Stronger America – with David Mitchell – [Ep. 254]

Linda J Hansen:  Welcome. Thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Prosperity 101 Breakroom Economics® Podcast. My name is Linda J. Hansen, your host and the author of Prosperity 101, Job Security Through Business Prosperity, the Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck® and the creator of the Breakroom Economics® Online course.

The book, the course, and the entire podcast library can be found on prosperity101.com. I seek to connect boardroom to breakroom and policy to paycheck. By empowering and encouraging employers to educate employees about the public policy issues that affect their jobs. My goal is to help people understand the foundations of prosperity, the policies of prosperity, and how to protect their prosperity by becoming informed, involved, and impactful®.

I believe this will lead to greater employee loyalty, engagement, and retention, and to an increased awareness of the blessings and responsibilities of living in a free society. Listen each week to hear from exciting guests and be sure to visit prosperity101.com.

Thank you so much for joining with me today. It is just a joy to have you listening and joining us today. I am excited for our guest. This is his third time back on the broadcast. But before I introduce my friend and repeat guest, I do want to say thank you to our prosperity partners, those who help us keep this podcast on the air with their financial donations, and thank you to those who have chosen to use the Breakroom Economics® course in their workplace.

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 So there's been much happening. That's an understatement, right? There has been much happening in politics and policy, especially since Donald Trump took office again. It seems like things are happening at a breakneck speed, which scares some people and just delights others. 

So today I have David Mitchell. David is the owner of Metal Masters of Wisconsin. He is a repeat guest, as I mentioned. I'm sure that listeners will be really glad to have him back and to hear his perspective.

I like to focus on small business leaders, people who actually pay the paychecks and take care of their employees and have to fight all the regulatory nonsense and things just to keep their businesses running. David is just a great example of that. But he's also a wonderful man who brings faith to the marketplace and he really tries to educate and empower his employees as well. David, thank you so much for being back.

David Mitchell: Well, Linda, thank you so much for having me. It is always an honor being on your show, so thank you.

Linda J. Hansen: Well, thanks. We usually have a lot of fun, but there's a lot of topics that we can discuss, and before we get into the policy issues, if you could just let new listeners know more about you and your company, like what's your background and then tell us about your company. 

David Mitchell: Well, thank you for that opportunity, Linda. My background, I have been running manufacturing companies for over 25 years. I'm an engineer from Purdue and I've spent almost my entire career in metal fabrication in the metal fabrication and metal machining world. I ran three different platforms for three different private equity groups, and recently, well, not so recently, I guess a little over four years ago, I finally purchased my own company, which is the one you just mentioned, Metal Masters of Wisconsin.

We are a custom stainless steel fabrication shop specializing in high end stainless steel projects for food and beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, very high end components for those industries. 

Linda J. Hansen: Well, if you were going to reach out to your ideal customer, who would you love to hear from after they've listened to you on this broadcast? 

David Mitchell: Well, food and beverage manufacturers, obviously, pharmaceutical companies, chemical companies, medical device companies, and then also the engineering firms that work with those companies to help them design their products. 

Linda J. Hansen: All right. Well, listeners, you will know how to get a hold of him by the time we're done here, and you'll begin to appreciate his desire to have quality and excellence in the workplace. So, David, we were going to start with tariffs. The tariffs are something that definitely affects your business. What's your first thought that you want to share? 

David Mitchell: So there seems to be a very large amount of people in the United States who do not understand the purpose of tariffs. So currently, if you look at all the tariffs throughout the world, there's a great disparity between the tariffs that we are charging other countries and what they are charging us, meaning they're charging us much higher tariffs than we're charging them.

So what that leads to, is about a trillion dollar deficit to the United States of America every year. So there's a trillion dollar trade deficit every year when you add up all the countries that we do business with, we're basically losing a trillion dollars every year in a trade deficit. That is unsustainable.

We can't continue this. If we can't, we've got thirty six trillion dollars in debt. Currently, our interest payments on our debt are approaching a trillion, if not over a trillion. You throw in the trillion dollar trade deficit, something has to change, and Donald Trump is the man for the time. He is the man to get the job done. He's the only one that can get it done because he's not part of the deep state. He's not part of the system.

He's not part of everything that got us to this point with no one ever addressing this problem. It drives me insane that we actually have intelligent people out there telling the people of America that he's going to cause inflation. He's going to destroy the economy.

Well, first of all, the only entity that can cause inflation is the federal government. And they do that by printing too much money and putting too much money into the supply. That's inflation.

Would tariffs potentially cause price increases if they were to go into effect?

Absolutely. But the other part of tariffs that people don't understand is that the tariff is actually on the cost that that particular company is bringing that product into the country for. So it's not the retail price, it's the cost that the company, that's going to resell that product, pays.

So the impact to the consumer is going to be much less than what the media and what the Democrats would have you believe. Trump is using tariffs as a negotiation tool, so he has brought over 50 countries to the table to negotiate tariff policy because we are the strongest economy in the entire world.

Every country on the planet needs America. They need America to buy their goods and they need America to be strong, so every country, with the exception of China right now, has reached out to the United States of America and they want to negotiate tariff policy and they want to get the tariffs in line so that the tariffs are equal, if not zero in some cases.

Most people will never feel the effect of the tariffs because all of this will be negotiated before they would even take effect. He's got a 90 day pause right now on tariffs with at least 50 different countries right now because they're in the process of negotiation, so this is a negotiation tool.

Now, I understand why he can't go out and educate the populace, because he can't go out and he can't reveal his strategy because then all these countries would know that it's just a strategy to get them to come to the table. They wouldn't believe, even though he is serious, that if they don't negotiate, he will put the tariffs on and he will bring them to their knees. We have the power to outlast every other nation in the world when it comes to tariffs, especially with China.

So what ultimately is going to happen is you're going to have every country in the world come to the table, except for China. But then we're going to box China out because China will be the odd man out and then they will be forced to come to the table and negotiate with Trump. 

Linda J. Hansen: You know, I love it. It's really the art of the deal. I was being interviewed earlier this week and I said the exact same thing that I love that China is being backed into a corner. They don't have the economic strength, even though it seems like they do.

Right. They really don't. If you start to drill down and see. 

David Mitchell: They're in recession right now and have been for over two years.

Linda J. Hansen: Right, and they cannot stand up to this. So they talk big and they are formidable in so many ways. They've hurt America in so many ways. They really are our huge enemy.

However, I do believe that he is definitely going to be bringing them to the table as well. He's someone who follows up on his words. The media says, oh, he's backing off on the tariffs. He's doing this. He can't make up his mind. No, no, no. He knows exactly what he's doing. 

And to see the way that these countries have come and wanted to negotiate. I mean, we're getting a much, much, much better deal with these countries that it's resetting. It's really resetting the global economy with America as the dominant force, and that's where we should be, because we're the leader of the free world.

David Mitchell: Right. Yeah. Most people don't realize that Canada has been taking advantage of us for decades. In some cases, they have over 300% tariffs on our dairy products coming into their country. It's insane.

Linda J. Hansen: Yeah, it is. And people it's not only the tariffs, but some of the other things, not letting different foods in or different materials in or whatever. I mean, there's other things that they do to really destroy our economy, not just Canada, but other countries. I think if they just listen to the mainstream media, all they hear is tariff, tariff and the price of everything is going to go up. And it's not necessarily true. 

David Mitchell: Nope. And the Democrats are losing at every turn right now.  They have no wins. They don't know what to do.

They are literally out in the wilderness by themselves. So they have to try to do something with their partners, the mainstream or the lamestream media, as I call them, are basically the state sponsored arm of the Democrat Party. And the Democrats aren't winning right now on any level, on anything.

So they have to get their lies and manipulation out to the mainstream media to try to keep some of the country in line. They're losing almost every battle right now. 

Well, look at what they're focusing on right now. They're focusing on this guy, this Garcia guy from Maryland, who they think for some reason should be brought back to this country when everything in his history would say that he is a member of MS-13. Two judges ruled that he was a member of MS-13. His wife had a restraining order against him, and yet this is the hill they want to die on. They want to die on this hill trying to get this illegal alien criminal back to the US.  I mean, luckily the president of El Salvador is having nothing to do with it, and he's totally on Trump's side. So this guy's not coming back. But I can't believe this is the hill they want to die on.

Linda J. Hansen: Yeah, it's crazy, and then taxpayer money likely paid for that elected official to go down and try for this guy to come back. I mean, it's really crazy. They keep calling him a Maryland man and an American resident and stuff, and it's like, he's not a citizen. He's actually a citizen of El Salvador.

But this is just another example of the doublespeak that goes on. But, we can play that out in so many areas, whether it's the MAHA agenda, the MAGA agenda, whatever. But we were on tariffs. And there is one thing. It is all part of the doublespeak, but I want to go back to tariffs and talk about what Kevin O'Leary said. We were talking about China being backed into a corner.

Did you see the interview with Kevin O'Leary?

David Mitchell: I saw bits and pieces of it. 

Linda J. Hansen: Yes. And, I just love this, that he just said, I do business with China. I know what it's like to do business with China. They don't need this tariff. They need a 400%. which I thought was just great. And I'm sure a lot of people, their heads probably blew up.

But because they don't understand the inner workings. I can't say that I'm an expert either, but I know enough and have studied all of this for decades to see exactly what is actually happening. So I'm just really thrilled.

And people talk about free trade. Well, free trade isn't really free unless it's fair. 

David Mitchell: And it has not existed in my lifetime. I'm going to be 60 years old this year. So I was born in 1965. So in my lifetime, free trade has not existed. It's a complete myth, and Trump is the first president in my entire life to have the guts to stand up and do something about it.

I mean, the old saying, what's the definition of insanity? It's doing the same thing over and over and over again and expecting a different result. Well, finally, we have a president that's going to do something different, and he's not just doing things different on tariffs. He's doing things different throughout the government.

Linda J. Hansen: It's exciting because not only is he resetting the global economy, but he's really resetting how things work within the government and getting rid of that deep state.

I would like you to say for listeners, how do you envision all of this impacting your business, short term and long term?

David Mitchell: So short term, I will definitely see some increases in my material pricing, my steel pricing, which I will definitely have to pass on to my customers.

But they're all expecting it. It's going to be what it's going to be. But long term, I envision and I'm talking, not even that long. I'm talking, the back half of this yearnI believe this is going to start occurring the first half of this year. 

A business for most of us in manufacturing is so-so. I mean, it's OK, but it's not great. I believe that starting in the third quarter, that business for all of us in manufacturing is just going to start increasing exponentially and that it's going to wind up being a phenomenal year. Then that's going to continue for the rest of Trump's presidency.

And then when we get Vance in office, it'll continue for another eight years. I truly believe this period of time in America's history is going to be some of the most profitable times in the history of our country.

Linda J. Hansen: No, I agree with everything.

David Mitchell: I mean, Trump calls it the golden age. I truly believe that is going to happen, and because it's going to be so successful, I see a 12 year run at the president level for the Republicans.

Linda J. Hansen: Well, and I think that that would be great because America really does need to heal. We need to heal. We need to heal economically. We need to heal, within our government systems and how we run our organizations and things, but we also need to heal spiritually. I know that that's something that's very important to you.

I know that your faith is important to you and you're not afraid to talk about it in the workplace, and that's inspirational. So along with that, I'm sure you're encouraged to see that faith is more welcome with this administration. It seems like in America now, it's OK to believe in God again. 

David Mitchell: Amen. And Trump talks openly about his faith. Look, we as Christians, we know we are flawed. That is why we need Christ, and that's why we need the fact that he died for all of us. Right. It's that it is done. All we need to do now is have faith and walk with him.

Right. And now I believe that the incident that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania, with Trump, I think it truly changed him. I think it really deepened his faith. And I believe and I think many of us Christians do, and I think Trump believes it, too, that he was spared for a reason that day and that God has used flawed men throughout the history of the world and throughout the history of our nation to bring about His will on earth. I truly believe that God is using Trump to bring America back to greatness.

Linda J. Hansen: I agree, and it's a good thing God can use flawed men and women because that's all He's got to work with. 

David Mitchell: There's only one perfect human being to ever walk the earth, and that Jesus Christ.

Linda J. Hansen: Right. Well, and I just really respect the fact and want to encourage other employers with what you do. I respect the fact that you aren't afraid to read your Bible in your office, that you're not afraid to discuss it with your employees if they have questions.

It's just great. And, you know, you never know where that goes. Your employees might be with you a year, they might be with you 10 years. You have no idea. But the impact you have.

For employers listening, yes do I want employers to use my online course or to use my resources to help train your employees? Yes, of course. Right.

But more importantly, I hope it helps you connect with your employees at a deeper level. No matter what you use to communicate with employees about these important truths, just remember that you have really a once in a lifetime opportunity to impact their lives. So many of these employees that have come up through the public school system and really have been taught, in many ways, not all, but in many ways to hate America, to believe in socialism, to think God is dead.

But, if you are an employer, you have such an opportunity to touch those lives, not only so they understand more about politics and policy and things, but that you could impact their lives for eternity.

David Mitchell: Amen. And actually we're shut down tomorrow for Good Friday. Very few companies do that today. So I encourage my guys to go to church and I remind them that tomorrow is a solemn day, but it's also a day of great joy because Christ fulfilled God's promise to us and it's a day that we should all definitely think about our faith and feel closer to our Lord. 

Linda J. Hansen: Well, that is so encouraging. We've talked about tariffs a little bit and taxes. I know we don't have a lot of time left, but I know we've talked before, about how much you appreciated the Trump tax cuts in his first administration, and now they're talking about getting rid of the IRS. What do you think about that? 

David Mitchell: I think it's absolutely phenomenal. I think that, if we can, I guess I'm not going to hold out hope that we're going to eliminate the IRS, but that would be fantastic.

But things like eliminating tax on overtime, my guys are so excited about that. And when I do need overtime, it is going to make it so much easier to get the guys to work overtime because literally when they work overtime now, they get bumped into a higher tax bracket and more taxes get taken out of their check. Yes, they'll get some of that back at the end of the year, but it makes them not see the impact of working that extra time because they don't get to keep as much of the money. So if we can do no tax on overtime, my guys would sign up for overtime in a heartbeat. I mean, they will go above and beyond. So I'm excited about that.

I'm excited about no tax on tips. I always try to tip in cash. That's just who I am. And then I'm excited by no tax on Social Security. I've had several elderly people in my life that lean to the other side of me, say that they're worried about Trump taking Social Security away, and I had to have this conversation with them that he's not going to take it away.

He's going to ensure that it's there forever. In fact, he's going to try to take away the federal income tax on your Social Security. So there'll be more in your pocket.

But it's amazing, again, going back to the propaganda, lamestream media, how they've lied to the American people. They have these senior citizens all scared that Trump's going to take away Social Security. 

Linda J. Hansen: Yeah, well, when we see headlines like Trump making big cuts to Social Security, there's a headline. They don't tell you that the big cuts are actually for the illegal aliens who are not taxpaying citizens. They have not paid into Social Security and they're getting benefits while the hardworking taxpayers are reduced to less income each month. The headlines don't tell you the whole story.

I really encourage people, when you're really wondering about these executive orders, they're all out there. I mean, this is the most transparent administration in my lifetime, and I'm older than you.

David Mitchell: Not by much.

Linda J. Hansen: I have never seen the press invited into the depth of a cabinet meeting like we've seen and I've never seen this type of transparency. For all the listeners out there, if you are afraid of this, go check it out for yourself, read the executive orders, follow through and read the memorandums, listen to the press briefings and you can see the transparency that's there and and begin to compare that with the, I call it fear porn, that's being peddled in the media. So just don't fear.

I've often said that the freedom trajectory can go from turmoil to transition. But we'll get there and we have to do this. So before we go, one last thing that you'd like the listeners to know as they think about how to educate employees in the workplace.

David Mitchell: Well, it starts with being open and honest about your employees and really caring about them, but then it also incorporates using programs like Prosperity101® to help educate them on their personal finances and how the government works. Your program is excellent. As you know, I've signed up, what, two years ago now, I think.

And it's been a great tool for helping to educate my employees and especially for people who aren't as knowledgeable in some areas. It's a really great tool to help the employer themselves, walk their employees through a step by step process to become more educated in these areas, because as we help empower our employees, they're going to have a better understanding of why we as business owners look at the world the way we do, why we vote the way we do.

I mean, I never tell my employees how to vote, but I tell them what the issues are and what's at stake and what each party represents and how it would affect them and also the business here. But your tool, Prosperity101®, is a great tool for helping accomplish all that.

Linda J. Hansen: Well, thank you for that, and it's great that you said you don't tell people how to vote. I think sometimes people get afraid of that when we talk about educating employees. But we're not telling them how to vote or who to vote for because the parties and the names of the people on the ticket, they change.

So it's about being educated enough to know how to discern with wisdom the policies that will be most beneficial for your freedom and your future. So David, how can people reach you? 

David Mitchell: Well, the easiest way would be an email, to sales@MetalMastersWI.com. 

Linda J. Hansen: All right. Sales@MetalMastersWI.com. Hopefully you will be contacting him about a sale so you can become a customer of this fine company. So thank you, David. I look forward to having you back again in the future because I know the listeners love hearing from you. So thank you so much.

David Mitchell: Well, thank you, Linda. As I said, it's always an honor to be on your program and I always enjoy our conversation. 

Linda J. Hansen: You too, thank you.

David Mitchell: Thank you. 

Linda J. Hansen: Thank you again for listening to the Prosperity101® podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, share and leave a great review. Don't forget to visit prosperity101.com to access the entire podcast library, to order my newest book, Job Security Through Business Prosperity, the Essential Guide to Understanding How Policy Affects Your Paycheck®, or to enroll you or your employees in the Breakroom Economics® online course.

You can also receive the free ebook, 10 Tips for Helping Employees Understand How Public Policy Affects Their Paychecks. Freedom is never free. Understanding the foundations of prosperity and the policies of prosperity will help you to protect prosperity as you become informed, involved and impactful®.

Please contact us today at prosperity101.com to let us know how we can serve you. Thank you.