What’s Next for Corporate America?
💭 No publication is truly unbiased, but this analysis is essential 👉 Check out FT’s breakdown on which industries and companies stand to gain or lose depending on the election outcome ⤵
⚡ Energy Sector 👇
🔴 A Trump victory could be a major boost for the oil and gas sector. The Republican candidate has pledged to ‘unleash American energy’ by reversing ‘Biden’s industry-killing regulations.’ His plans include lifting the freeze on new LNG terminal approvals, reducing greenhouse gas emissions standards, and scaling back incentives and targets for electric vehicles and renewable energy. While Congress and the courts might slow these changes, his presidency could significantly impact areas like offshore wind, which depends on federal permits.
🔵 A Harris win would mean the continuation of Biden’s policies. Under her leadership, the Inflation Reduction Act (Biden’s key ‘climate’ legislation, which allocated nearly $450 billion for investments in green energy) would remain intact. In contrast, Trump has promised to dismantle this law.
⚪️ Both candidates are anticipated to back the growth of nuclear energy, one of the few areas with bipartisan support in the sector.
🔵 Harris will refrain from imposing punitive tariffs on imports, a move that Trump has proposed, which could disrupt global trade and negatively impact energy companies.
👨🏻💻 Technologies 👇
🔴 Any of the presidential candidates could disrupt Silicon Valley’s focus on artificial intelligence. Trump has pledged to overturn Biden’s AI executive order, which Harris helped introduce last year. This move would please not just Musk but also startup investors who argue that strict regulations would hinder the U.S. in its AI competition with China and solidify Big Tech’s dominance.
🔴 Trump’s position on Taiwan, which he claims has undermined the American semiconductor industry, could create significant challenges for chipmaker Nvidia and its customers. Like Apple, Nvidia depends on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company for its advanced chips. New tariffs on Taiwanese imports could increase costs or disrupt semiconductor supplies, which are already struggling to meet demand. Additionally, both Apple and Nvidia could be negatively impacted if Trump enforces higher tariffs on imports from China, where they have extensive supply chains.
🔵 Harris’s connections to California and the Biden administration’s legacy of investments in U.S. broadband infrastructure and chip manufacturing position her as a more favorable ally for the industry. However, her concerns about the risks of AI signal a potential new challenge.
🏦 Banks and Finances 👇
🔴 For more than a year, Biden’s administration has seen U.S. banks successfully push back against proposals to raise capital requirements. A Trump victory could further motivate the industry to secure an even better deal than the one recently proposed by the Fed. Wall Street dealmakers are also hoping that Trump will ease the aggressive antitrust approach of Fed Chair Lina Khan and Jonathan Kanter at the Department of Justice. While J.D. Vance has been a vocal critic of companies’ anticompetitive behavior, it remains unclear how this will influence Trump’s stance. His administration could also reverse the SEC’s efforts to expand disclosure requirements in areas like private equity and climate risk. During the campaign, Trump also mentioned the possibility of capping credit card interest rates at around 10%, a proposal that banks would likely oppose.
🔵 Harris has worked to convince donors that her administration would be less aggressive in cracking down on big business compared to Biden’s. This could involve appointing new officials to the SEC and FTC who would adopt a less forceful approach than Gary Gensler and Lina Khan. Here’s the catch: If Harris attempts to replace Khan, she could face pushback from some members on the left side of her party.
🛒 Consumer Goods 👇
🔴 Trump has pledged to lower food prices for Americans by imposing massive tariffs on imports. That being said, economists warn that the policy could backfire: Tariffs on imported commodities, such as grain and sugar, would likely increase prices, which food producers would then pass on to consumers in order to protect their margins. (The National Retail Federation estimates that consumers could lose between $46 billion and $78 billion annually under the proposed tariffs.)
🔵 Under Harris, U.S. food companies could face heightened scrutiny over their pricing strategies: She has vowed to implement a federal ban on price gouging by manufacturers within her first 100 days in office. The Harris administration also plans to limit mergers and acquisitions that it believes harm competition, while boosting support for small businesses. Dealmaking in the sector, which had slowed in recent years due to rising borrowing costs, has surged, with major deals like Mars’ $36 billion acquisition of Kellogg spin-off company.
✈️ Aviation Industry 👇
🔴 Trump could spell trouble for the aviation industry, potentially hindering Boeing’s ability to boost plane sales in China (a key market for the company) and driving up costs for U.S. airlines (including a 60% tariff on Chinese goods and at least a 10% levy on all other imports). If these tariffs apply to planes, they could also impact U.S. airlines, the customers of Boeing’s main competitor. This includes Airbus planes delivered to U.S. carriers or imported components used to assemble its A320neo and A220 jets at its plant in Mobile, Alabama. Airbus CEO Guillaume Faury stated last week that any new tariffs would be passed on to customers, just as happened in 2020 when the previous Trump administration imposed tariffs amid a long-standing dispute with Europe over plane subsidies.
🔵 Harris plans to maintain the previous administration’s policies.
🚙 Transportation Industry 👇
🔴 Trump could damage the struggling electric vehicle market, which represented about 9% of new car sales in the U.S. in the third quarter. His stance is that emissions regulations will ‘kill’ the industry and should be repealed, potentially reducing the incentive for traditional manufacturers to develop EVs. He is also expected to eliminate the $7,500 tax credit introduced by Biden. However, Musk’s backing could be a wildcard in this situation.
🔵 The United Automobile Workers union has endorsed Harris for president.
P.S. Trump is currently leading the presidential race, with Republicans also winning the U.S. Senate elections.