Gregory Husisian Garners Widespread Media Coverage for Canadian Tariff Analysis

Foley & Lardner LLP partner Gregory Husisian garnered significant media coverage for his analysis of the Trump administration’s announcement of a 50% tariff on Canadian imports.

Speaking to CNN, Husisian said, “Other countries are still going to need to take such threats seriously.” He added, “This is confirmation that President Trump is going to continue to use the threat of tariffs to achieve foreign policy ends for the rest of his presidency.”

In the Law360 article, “U.S. Tariffs Increase Pressure on Canadian Trade Negotiations,” Husisian cautioned, “One can’t overlook the possibility that if Canada doesn’t jump the way President Trump wants, that they may well decide that even more negotiating pressure would be put in place if we actually put the tariffs into effect.”

On the impact of tariffs, Husisian told the Associated Press, “Even with the significant carve-outs, you’re still going to be hitting a fair amount of goods, and those costs are going to be passed onto U.S. consumers at a time when the U.S. consumer is telling people pretty consistently that they feel tapped out by inflation.”

In the Wall Street Journal’s article, “The Companies Trading Away Tariff Refund Rights,” Husisian said, “Before the Supreme Court’s decision, selling refund rights often meant taking a massive haircut.” Now, he shared, “valuations of those claims ballooned to between 80 and 90 cents on the dollar, even higher for some companies, up from roughly 20 cents.”

Husisian explained that the first wave is limited to certain imports that “aren’t considered final or have been finalized” within the past 80 days. For other businesses — including those with older imports or importers of low-cost goods that previously entered the U.S. duty-free — he said the timing of any payouts are unknown and that “selling off rights is increasingly attractive for those companies.”

“There is still a major category of refunds where both the timing and whether you will get it is uncertain,” Husisian added. “If you’re getting something pretty close to a full recovery and you’re getting it quicker, that combination might be enough.”

He reflected on these early deals now appearing less favorable, given that companies are currently receiving substantial government payouts. Husisian explained that early buyers had to weigh significant risks, “At the time, there was a possibility the high court would leave the tariffs intact, a gamble refund buyers had to price in.”

For businesses with unresolved claims, he explained, “Everybody would rather get 100 cents on the dollar. So they’re saying, ‘What are the chances that I’ll be able to get 100 cents on the dollar in a reasonably close period of time?’”

Husisian’s commentary also appeared in CNN Brasil, Yahoo! Finance, Daily Mail, AOL, MSN, Houston Chronicle, and The Toronto Star.