With a new US president on the way who promised changes to trade deals with Mexico and China, local manufacturing companies are keeping an eye on federal policy to see if changes could boost American competitiveness for domestic companies or raise the cost of parts coming in from overseas.

President-elect Donald Trump on the campaign trail discussed a 35-percent tariff on imports from Mexico and 45-percent tax on goods from China. Of course, specifics don’t often get fleshed out on the campaign trail, and Peter Straw, executive director of the Sarasota Manatee Manufacturers Association, says any talk remains speculative until an actual policy is put into play.

Peter Nesbitt, president of Quasar Bio-Tech, doesn’t expect his company to be negatively impacted by a new tariff policy. His company makes goods including Baby Quasar light therapy devices, which are primarily made here in Sarasota. The only imported goods are integrated circuit boards. “I don’t see any significant changes because the costs of those components are relatively low,” Nesbitt says.

Intertape Polymer Group, which has its US headquarters in Sarasota, makes tape products both in the United States and overseas, and serves manufacturers in countries around the globe. According to James Apap Bologna, vice president of marketing for IPG, the international market can sometimes be a more difficult place to compete. “Anything that will bring manufacturing back to the US, I would imagine that would be helpful,” he says. But he also stressed, like many manufacturers, his company did not want to step into a policy argument.

But while tariffs are a way to level the playing field for American manufacturers, the biggest risk may be in disrupting the world economy, Straw says. But ultimately, manufacturers need to rely on their own strategies to continue to grow, not on government policy shifts. “Manufacturers in Sarasota, Manatee and all of Florida will continue to do what they do inspite of policy,” Straw says, “not because of it.”