Tariff Talk With Voices in Advocacy's Roger Rickard

The threat by the Trump Administration to levy significant tariffs against three of the biggest trading partners of the U.S. became reality March 4, 2025, and the impact on the meeting and events industry is still unfolding.

Meetings Today’s Tyler Davidson engaged Voices in Advocacy’s Roger Rickard, the leading expert on political advocacy in the meetings industry and beyond, to gauge how the 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada, and now 20% on China—and reciprocal actions by those nations—may touch the industry.

Will meeting and event costs skyrocket? Will international attendance plummet? Will organizations from those countries take a pass on bringing their events to the U.S.?

At the time of recording the impact was far from clear, but Rickard outlines some very real scenarios as well as provides resources for how those in the meetings and events industry can reach out to their political representatives to make sure their voices are heard.

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Transcript:

Editor's note: The following transcription was facilitated by an AI program and proofed by our editors. Although it is very accurate, there inevitably will be some mistakes, so please consider that when reading. Thank you.

Tyler Davidson   
Hello, and welcome to this Meetings Today podcast. I’m Tyler Davidson, vice president and chief content director with meetings today and joined by, joined with by Roger Rickard, Voices in advocacy. Who is the guy who knows how the sausage is made in the political world and is also, of course, a long time meetings industry veteran and so.
Those how those two work together, collide, etc.
And today, we're gonna talk about something. We've been kind of contemplating for the last couple weeks, is the announcement of significant tariffs by the Trump administration on some of our top trading partners, Canada, Mexico and China in particular.
And we've sort of, we're wondering, well, you know, is this a negotiation tactic?
Is it really gonna happen?
Is he gonna pull it off the table at the last minute?
Well, it's Tuesday, March 4th, 2025 and that's a real deal.
25% levies on Canada and Mexico, and he used to announce an extra 10% tariff on Chinese imports, bringing it to 20%.
And in retaliation, China has levelled up to a 15% tariff on US farm exports. Canada at the moment is promising to retaliate, and Mexico is set to announce Sunday possible tariffs.
So, Roger, untangle this mess for us and what it means for the meetings industry.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
I'm not sure that I'm Houdini and can untangle things to that level, but you know, as we begin this, we're recording this on Tuesday, March 4th, and it was at midnight today that these tariffs.
Came to be and I guess the first thing that I'd like to share is.
Reiterate a little bit about what you said.
Is that we do not know.
How long these tariffs may be in place? At this point, we don't know. If it's bluster, we don't know if it's positioning.
We don't know if it's the art of the deal, but what we do know is that they're in place right now and people are beginning to scramble and they're a little bit concerned about it.
My personal belief is that if this these tariffs hit the US economy fairly strong, I think they'll be short term because.
I don't think that the public and the citizenry in this country are going to want to tolerate that.
One of the things that I'm most concerned about.
Outside of even the meetings industry.
But it does affect the meetings industry and that is the market volatility.
And business uncertainty, the anxiety.

Tyler Davidson   
The business that we run on stability, right?
I guess that's the mantra.
And this is a very unstable time right now.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
Oh, it is it because of the uncertainty.
And anytime you don't know what tomorrow's gonna bring, you're concerned.
I do know from talking to somebody in the meetings industry yesterday, they had a conversation with aceo and they had a meeting already planned and the CEOs really concerned about what tomorrow's gonna bring. And, you know, naturally looking at attrition, naturally looking at what's where, cancellation policy.
How much of a deposit do we have to put down and if that thinking is already going through the minds of CEOs out there, that is definitely gonna trickle down into the meetings industry.

Tyler Davidson 
And and the cost of meetings, especially with Mexico in particular, you know with.
The farm exports into the USI mean I'm looking at a list here.
Do you like avocados? Tomatoes, bell Peppers, raspberries, strawberries on the list?

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
Let us.

Tyler Davidson   
Sort of.
The list goes on and on, and all all things I love, I know, and we might be paying more for them. Along with eggs, I guess.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
Well, and I and I think that that's gonna definitely happen.
And that may happen very quickly.
That may be that may be reflected in meetings that are gonna happen next week and and beyond.
I think food costs are something that are are definitely going to rise.
And we need to be concerned about that because food is such a major chunk of of what a meeting budget is.

Tyler Davidson  
Yeah.
I I've heard it's. I've they they always say it's a probably the second biggest expense in a typical meeting budget after accommodations.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
Yes, I I agree with that completely.

Tyler Davidson  
I mean, I mean, another thing too is like all the gigah, the promotional products.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
Another.

Tyler Davidson   
I mean, you know, maybe that will be a little bit longer term of a increase, but you know, where's all that stuff coming from?
China, a lot of it, right?

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
Yeah. And I saw a quote today from an executive with the toy industry talking about how toys are going to skyrocket now, that doesn't necessarily directly affect the meetings industry, but that gives you the indication that you're spot on about all the specialty items that would be coming.

Tyler Davidson   
Hmm.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy 
From China and the cost of those, but I think more importantly, there's a couple of things here.

Tyler Davidson   
Mm hmm.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
In in in preparing for this podcast today.
I looked up 22 U.S. states.
Their number one trading partner is Canada.

Tyler Davidson   
Yeah.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
10 the number one trading partner is Mexico.

Tyler Davidson   
Mm hmm.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
And US imports from Canada.
While the it's a wide range of things, lumber and paper are right up there and if you like, if you like your Maple syrup on your pancakes in the morning, you know that that's a part of that.

Tyler Davidson   
Yep.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
But Mexico?
I was shocked to find out how high beverages were in their and spirits were in their trade.
So think about that.
You get up in the morning. You can't have your Maple syrup.
You can't have your avocado on your sandwich at at at lunchtime and the tequila's gonna be more expensive after hours. So I mean, we I'm kind of joking about it because.
I'm I'm majorly concerned.

Tyler Davidson  
Yeah.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
And I'm concerned also for attendance.
You know.
There a lot of Mexicans and a lot of Canadians come to us meetings and for that, in fact, most of the world does.

Tyler Davidson  
They're they're not in a happy mood right now about the United States.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
No, they're not.

Tyler Davidson   
And it is evidenced by, I guess the viral clips of them booing the national, our national anthem at hockey games.
Etcetera. And and I see.
Products being taken off the shelves from the United States and Canada, there is a very real negative sentiment there and you know how will that translate into to them wanting to come to the United States for meetings.
I would think it could be a very real impact.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
I think it.
I think it would be a real impact and if we take it down to granular level of meetings, industry events.
If we take it to that level, look at the amount of sponsorships that we get from Mexico and the and the different destinations in Mexico, the same with Canada and the different destinations in Canada.

Tyler Davidson   
Hmm.
Yeah.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
So that's gonna have an impact directly on meetings, industry events.
Which may or may not, but could potentially raise the price of going to those events as well.
But.
I'm hopeful.
I'm hopeful that there's a lot of bluster.
There seems to be.
Some indication that if he can be, if Trump, if the Trump administration can in a week or two weeks, say we accomplished this, we're gonna cut the tariffs back now.

Tyler Davidson  
Right.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy 
That it's all part of a of a ploy, a geopolitical risky ploy.
But I think that's a possibility.

Tyler Davidson   
Declare victory and come home right, in other words.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
That's right.
Yeah, no matter whether the war started or not.

Tyler Davidson   
Exactly.
Yeah, what?
What other observations do you have?
I mean, we were talking before we started recording and you know, you really put some thought into this and I I know, you know, the covering the political system and advocacy is your stock and trade.
You know what are your other observations?
And also you know after maybe you go through some of those what there's a lot of people in the meetings industry and everywhere.
That are very anxious right now for a variety reasons.
How can they advocate for themselves and what they believe are important issues to them?

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy 
Well, one of the taglines for my my company, voices and advocacy is we help you grow your community of advocates. And one thing that I would say within the meetings industry is that once again we have to become vocal.
We have to become active and it doesn't take an awful lot.
You don't have to do an awful lot.
I have a few suggestions along that route, but before I give those suggestions.
I think it would be really important for people in the meetings industry.
To react as a general citizen.

Tyler Davidson   
You know why is that?

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
And not.

Tyler Davidson   
See that?
I see a lot of people responding and they they throw in the the worth of the industry.
They think it's whatever X billion industry and that's going to get the attention of the politicians.
But what you're saying is maybe a bit counterintuitive, at least from a personal citizen level.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
Well, this is the first time that I've ever said something like this.
Because I think it's a different type of animal. If we look at the big picture of.
All the disruption and the amount that is being flooded into our system right now of actions taken by the administration.
I think that politicians and their staff are being overwhelmed by people.
Maybe have even bigger picture issues. You know the government cuts.
We we all want more efficient government.
But are we doing it in a humane way?
We're seeing that reaction taking place in congressional town halls across the country that people are upset about, that people losing their jobs not because they're not doing their job, but just for some other reasons, including veterans and everything else.
I think if we tag ourselves as I'm really concerned about the meetings industry, if if you call a member of Congress and you tag yourself and say, I'm really concerned about the meetings industry, they may look at it and think that the meetings industry is micro and they.
Dealing with macro issues, so I think it's time that we as a citizen.
Act in the macro level and talk about the big big picture.
Why are we concerned about tariffs?
We're concerned about job loss potentially.

Tyler Davidson   
The yeah.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
We're concerned about fears of inflation, rising food costs.
Trying to feed our families.

Tyler Davidson  
The proverbial kitchen table argument, right?

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy 
Absolutely. The things that the Trump administration promised on day one.
So I think if we focus on those issues and reach out to members of Congress in, in doing so is easy, you if you don't know where to find your member of Congress, you can go to house.gov or you can go to senate.gov you.
Have two US senators and one member of Congress.
Like when you go to house.gov you put your zip code in.
It will tell you who your member of Congress is.
It'll give you a phone number.
I think you ought to call and just simply say listen, I'm a concerned citizen.
I fear for my job.
I fear for inflation.
I fear for the rising food costs and the price of goods and services out there.
I may need to buy a new car and there's talk that new cars may skyrocket in price.
All those things I want you to act.
I want these tariffs stopped.
And I think the big picture message is more important now than simply talking about.

Tyler Davidson   
Yeah.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
Your job within the meetings industry, whether that's a supplier or or whether that's as a as a meeting professional now you may have.
A great example of something that's already happened that you could point to.
And and that would be fair. But I think taking them the 50,000 foot level approach to this, that it's a much bigger issue than it is just for my industry.
Would be a smart play right now.

Tyler Davidson  
What are you seeing, if anything, from the industry associations and some of the ones that are supposed to advocate for the interest of the industry?
I a lot of I haven't really seen anything definitive yet and a lot of it was well, we'll wait and see if this happens. Well, it's happened.
Do they have a responsibility to take a a leading role in this or you know what is your opinion? You know that.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
Well I it's very easy for me since I'm not affiliated with an organization to be able to speak out so.

Tyler Davidson   
Yeah.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
That's first and foremost.
Second, I would say that they are probably in a posture of let's get some research. Let's find out what's really happening before we comment if this is going to impact.
Hotel occupancy levels, then the hotel associations are going to look at it and say, well, why?
How is that happening before they wanna wanna react? The second thing is I also think that there's a possibility this could be very short term and that they don't.
They don't wanna be in a position of antagonizing either the administration and or certain political allies that they may have.
And that's fair.

Tyler Davidson  
Mm hmm.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy 
And that's and that's an honest reaction on their part.
And they need to take that into consideration.
Plus the diversity.
Of the organizations in a lot of the meeting associations.
The type of suppliers that are there versus the type of companies which there are planners and meeting professionals that are part of.
So they, they've got to get a better footing as to whether or not.
The rock that they're stepping on is solid or it's going to disintegrate.

Tyler Davidson  
Yeah, and. And talking casually with some of them.
I know it is weighing heavily on their minds and they're all trying to figure it out and talking.
Offline with each other about what they're going to do, and I agree with you is that I don't think they want to have a knee jerk reaction at this point.
They need to see some solid statistics and the impact that this may have and if it all goes away in a week, then perhaps the issue is is moot.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy 
Yeah, I I and and if I were advising, that's the position I would take for them.
Walk, walk slowly, but be prepared to have a big stick to kind of paraphrase Teddy Roosevelt's walk softly and carry a big stick. I would say walk slowly, but be prepared to have that big stick if you need it down the road.

Tyler Davidson  
Teddy Roosevelt.
Yeah, well, great.
But well before we end today's podcast, you know, any other advice for planners or or ruminations on this issue?
What do you want to leave them with?

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
Well, I think first and foremost that they have to be they have to be citizens and being a good citizen, you know, I often say this share here, the Constitution doesn't doesn't begin with I the king or me the president or even we the Congress. It begins with.
We the people, so it's our responsibility if we're concerned.
About the direction of government and we we need to to step forward and and speak Ronald Reagan's last address to the nation.
In 1989, from the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, gave a indication that.
We are the driver.
The government is the car, we tell it where to go and how fast, when to stop, when to turn.

Tyler Davidson   
Mm hmm.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy   
We hold the keys, so we hold the keys to the success of our future. If we participate in the process.
So reach out to members.
Tell them that you're concerned about this.
Tell them how you again to reiterate.
Fear of inflation fear the cost, rising fear of potentially losing your job. Because of those things.
The business instability that's going on and.
Increased in direct increases in the the kitchen table items like like food do that make it simple.
Make sure you tell them that you're a constituent.
They may ask you your address.
Give them the address and make sure that you're there to say please. Please consider what's going on when you make your decisions.

Tyler Davidson  
Thanks for joining us, Roger.
It was great to turn to your expertise in this matter and I I appreciate all your insight.

Roger Rickard, Voices in Advocacy  
Well, you're more than welcome.
Thanks for asking me to be a part of this, Tyler and best wishes.

Tyler Davidson   
All right, that was Roger Rickard of voices and advocacy.
The the guy at the crossroads of politics and the meetings industry and beyond.
I'm Tyler Davidson, vice president and chief content director for meetings today.
Thank you for joining us for this meetings today podcast. If you are interested in more of our podcast with industry thought leaders head on over to meetingstoday.com and check out our podcast section.
Umm, thanks again for joining us.
Roger and everyone else.
And no matter what you're up to with the rest of the day, go out and make it great.