Navigating the Tariff Landscape: SIA GovSummit Insights and Analysis of Recent Actions

After a chaotic few months of trade policy from the Trump administration, the security industry is carefully navigating the new international trade regime, while manufacturers and integrators keep a wary eye on potential new actions, including new trade deals, section 232 investigations, court actions and the looming July 9, 2025, suspension date for country-specific tariffs.

To continue measuring where the industry is at and how companies are dealing with the economic uncertainty, the Security Industry Association encourages integrators to participate in a brief survey to anonymously share how tariffs are impacting your organization. Data on how the industry is responding will be helpful as we advocate for tariff policies that address supply chain constraints related to security products.

On May 21, Dave McCarthy, program manager, government relations at Axis Communications; Bill Brennan, chair of the board at i-PRO Americas; Vada Garcia, specialist for policy and government affairs at the Consumer Technology Association; and Wes Sudduth, partner at Venable, discussed the status of the Administration’s actions and insights for security manufacturers at SIA GovSummit 2025 – the nation’s premier government security conference, presented by SIA and held in Washington, D.C.

The panel discussed a timeline of the Trump administration’s second-term tariffs to date, tracking the initial China, Mexico, Canada tariffs and the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement exclusion, Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs, autos and auto part tariffs and the Liberation Day reciprocal tariffs announced on April 2.

Since our most recent blog post on tariffs in April, SIA has been tracking the following key actions and deadlines:

• On April 10, a 90-day pause on the higher “reciprocal” tariff rates proposed for 57 specific countries went into effect, buying time for leaders to negotiate more favorable deals. The deadline for this temporary relief to be lifted is July 9, 2025.
• On April 29, the administration cleared up some confusion around the different tariff rates by preventing “stacking” so that goods subject to Section 232 tariffs would not be subject to the additional country-specific rates and vice versa.
• On June 3, the Trump administration again adjusted the Section 232 steel and aluminum tariff rates from 25% to 50%.

The panel also discussed how manufacturers can navigate the disruptive environment by looking for ways that they can source goods domestically while still remaining competitive in the long run. In the short term, having to reevaluate resources and supply chains can lead to longer lead times, retractions and moving infrastructure, but the panel encouraged companies to take this as an opportunity to explore ways to put themselves in a better situation moving forward.

For advice on how to manage an ever-changing environment, panelists suggested having a solid trade compliance team and a solid supply chain and sourcing team. These roles will continue to be important as companies need to maintain relationships with their customs brokers and ensure that they are compliant with all new regulations. There will be a renewed focus on enforcement with all of these changes.

So what is next? Everyone is eyeing the trade deals that get struck over the next month to see which reciprocal tariffs will be going into effect when the suspension ends on July 9. In the meantime, there are ongoing court challenges attempting to strike down the country-specific rates and several Section 232 investigations for the administration to consider further tariffs on copper, timber and lumber, semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, trucks, critical minerals and commercial aircraft.

As SIA continues to track the tariff process and advocate on the industry’s behalf, we urge companies to use their voices to make their stories known. We strongly encourage manufacturers and integrators to complete our surveys so that we can accurately assess the impact of these policies on our industry as a whole. If you have any questions or comments, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Lauren Bresette, senior manager of government relations at SIA, at lbresette@securityindustry.org.