How to Survive a Trade War

Connecticut manufacturers are absorbing real costs from escalating trade battles—but many are also finding unexpected opportunity.

“My biggest message is, don’t plan for today because, as we know from the last two years, there could be a tariff announcement tomorrow,” Robinson+Cole partner Jeff White told an audience of more than 550 at CBIA’s Oct. 1 Made in Connecticut: 2026 Manufacturing Summit.

“So that’s the biggest thing. It creates this uncertainty. That’s why you have to have more of a long-term plan.”

White, who advises manufacturing companies, joined Bill Hazard, president of Bristol-based Novo Precision, and Keith Simons, president of the Controls Products Division at Shelton’s OEM Controls, for a summit panel discussion moderated by CBIA president and CEO Chris DiPentima.

DiPentima opened by noting just how central trade is to Connecticut’s economy.

“We have a trade-driven economy here in Connecticut,” he said, pointing to a record $17.74 billion in exports last year, despite mounting uncertainty around tariffs and geopolitical conflict.

‘Very Loud Noise’

White noted that protectionism is far from a new phenomenon, tracing it back to the earliest days of the republic.

“George Washington essentially did not want to wear a suit from England,” he said, adding that the first president sourced his inauguration outfit from a Hartford woolen manufacturer.

What’s different today, White said, is the emphasis on tariffs specifically—and the fact that the rest of the world is responding with its own protectionist measures.

“If you’re dealing with Europe, they have ‘buy European,’” he said. “So protectionism is not just a U.S. issue.”

Simons described the uncertainty generated by federal trade policy as “a lot of noise. It’s a lot of very, very loud noise.”

“The noise is so loud, and and it’s always going to be there, and it’s going to go up and down,” he said.

“It’s things you have to address and mitigate at the exact time, but it should not stray from your actual plan going forward.”

“You need to focus on the things you can control. You can control your process, control your internals. And improve that on a continuous basis. You will always get better.”

Hazard added that “as a business, as a manufacturing company, all you get is problems.”

“It’s just problem after problem after problem,” he said. “So this is just another problem that you’ve got to figure out and develop your strategy.”

Supply Chains

DiPentima asked Hazard and Simons to describe their supply chains.

Hazard said Novo Precision, which makes everything from high-volume wire forms to custom CNC machines, tries to buy domestically and locally whenever possible.

“We try to buy U.S., and we try to actually buy Connecticut as much as we can,” he said.

“We ask that question every single time we source something.”

Simons described a more globally dependent chain for OEM Controls, which manufactures electronic control systems and joysticks used in heavy machinery.

The engineered metals in the company’s joysticks come from Germany and Canada, he said, while electronic components are sourced from China—although the company assembles everything, including wire harnesses, in house to keep as much value-add work in Connecticut as possible.

Tariffs Squeeze Costs, Reward Flexibility

White described the past two years as a steady evolution in how manufacturers have responded to tariffs—from hunting for force majeure clauses, to renegotiating contracts, to pursuing tariff refunds and litigation.

He said many manufacturers passed tariff-related costs to customers, and most are now rewriting contracts to make clear that tariff costs fall on the buyer.

For Simons, the most recent round of tariffs—a 50% rate on Canadian imports layered on top of an existing 10%—was especially difficult.

“Crushing us is a safe statement,” he said, noting OEM Controls moves roughly $8 million to $10 million of its $40 million in annual trade north across the Canadian border.

“It’s almost next to impossible to just add that on,” he added, describing the added compliance work required before even approaching customers about price increases.

Hazard offered a different view.

“We’ve been hit a little bit. I don’t think it’s bad for the most part,” he said, noting Novo Precision has largely been able to pass costs through and is experiencing its largest-ever order backlog as more U.S. companies look to make products domestically.

DiPentima noted that Connecticut’s manufacturing sector grew more than 10% in the second quarter, even as the state’s overall economy grew 3%—a sign, he suggested, that pain points are also creating real openings.

Vertical Integration

Simons said OEM Controls is accelerating plans to bring more of its production in house.

“Ten years ago, the plan was to outsource some of that up to Canada, and that was a great idea 10 years ago,” he said.

“Now we’ve got to get this back in here because it’s just better for us. We can control the costs.”

Hazard pointed to Novo Precision’s practice of routing supplies through regional “milk runs” to reduce shipping costs, and described a case study where the company switched a supplier and redesigned a product using a more sustainable material, cutting costs while improving performance.

White said Connecticut’s dense, specialized manufacturing base—with multiple local suppliers for processes like wire EDM and coatings—gives the state a structural advantage over regions that must ship parts out of state or overseas for weeks at a time.

“The reality is, we have a lot of sophistication in the local supply chain,” he said.

“We have the capabilities in Connecticut much more, where some other countries and some other states, they literally have to ship everything.

“They lose days, weeks, trying to get the special processes done and then have it come back in.”

Workforce Challenges

The panelists described workforce constraints—Connecticut’s labor force has declined by 54,000 people (-2.8%) over the past 12 months—as a bigger long-term threat than tariffs.

DiPentima asked panelists how they balanced bringing more production in house against Connecticut’s labor shortage—for instance, the manufacturing sector has over 7,000 job openings, about 8% of the state’s total.

Simons said OEM Controls regularly competes with larger companies for talent, adding that younger workers show real interest in hands-on manufacturing careers when given a pathway—citing partnerships with community colleges and high school robotics programs.

“You’ve got to provide a channel for them to to learn it, get involved, and get excited about it,” he said.

“We work with the the local high schools around us with the robotics teams, getting them excited about robotics, which is mechatronics, which is engineering, which is build, which is all the type of things that go into what we need.”

Hazard also emphasized community engagement, adding that Novo Precision’s location in Bristol allows the company “to pull from a lot of towns.”

“We’ve been fortunate in being able to get some really talented people,” he said.

“If you were to ask me a year and a half ago if we had a succession problem, I would have said ‘absolutely.’

“But we’ve been able to get some very young, smart people into technical roles. So, you know, obviously it’s still a problem, but but I think we’re lucky where we are in Bristol.”

White urged manufacturers to be more transparent about their culture and leadership on their websites, arguing that privately held companies too often look faceless to prospective employees.

“We don’t have enough people coming into the state to actually fill jobs,” he said.

“So what essentially is happening is we’re all trying to take people from other other other companies.

“My biggest message is that transparency about who you are, why you’re special, and why your workforce really likes working for you, and why you have a great culture is is really important today.”

DiPentima noted that Connecticut’s reliance on immigration for population growth—now cut roughly in half—has compounded the labor shortage, reinforcing CBIA’s broader push to lower the state’s cost of living to retain and attract workers.

Looking Ahead

Asked where Connecticut’s trade relationships should head over the next five years, White pointed to ongoing consolidation among manufacturers—much of it driven by private equity—as the bigger variable to watch.

He also credited Gov. Ned Lamont with shifting the state’s tone.

“We were bashing our state for all these years,” White said. “I think we just have to be careful about how we describe Connecticut.”

Hazard and Simons both pointed to the state’s Strategic Supply Chain Initiative, a $25 million program administered by the Department of Economic and Community Development aimed at helping companies reshore production or attract new suppliers, as a promising tool.

“You have a chance to get through just about anything.”

Robinson+Cole’s Jeff White

Both also emphasized workforce development—investing in local schools, robotics programs, and career pathways—as the lever manufacturers can control most directly, even as trade policy continues to shift.

Asked for a single piece of advice, White told manufacturers to “stay the course” and lean on sound business fundamentals rather than reacting to daily headlines.

“Stay the course. I know that sounds like pretty crazy advice to give, but I would say not only in Connecticut, but around the world, people are basically saying ‘we’ll get through this like everything else,'” he said.

“There’s not a winner and loser in any of this. The reality is, is that some people are being successful and some people are struggling.

“But I think if your people are sound, and your contracts are sound, and your processes are sound, you have a chance to get through just about anything.”