After the Trump administration announced $ 2.5 billion in rates in imports of articles used in conferences such as aluminum, paper and copper, event industry organizations issued statements that declare relief based on the importance of conferences and events.
The message coincided with the day of the global meetings industry on March 3 and the accumulation of US Travel Association.The destiny of the annual Capitol Hill defense promoted modernization to unlock a new age gold era before the FIFA 2026 World Cup and the Summer 2028 Olympic Games.
Concern for increasing event costs
Tommy Goodwin, executive vice president with Exhibition and Conferences Alliance (ECA), issued a statement by saying the Executive order The introduction of new reciprocal tariffs on the US business partners has led to a “significant concern” within the US commercial and professionals industry.
“These rates will increase the costs for organizers of commercial and professional events, exhibitors and assistants equally. They also send a signal to international exhibitors and attendees that the United States is closed by business.”
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He pointed out that tariffs will particularly damage small businesses, which represents 99% of industry companies and 80% of all exhibitors. Then he shared the economic impact of the event industry: 2.63 million American jobs and $ 426.1 billion in estimated expenses for 2025 in the United States. “That is why ECA opposes these new rates, which will negatively affect our collective capacity to boost economic growth, support job creation, train small businesses and help solve our most urgent social challenges,” he said.
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A plea to consider the impacts of large panels
He Live events coalition (LEC) that came alive during the pandemic to advocate for the well -being of all parts of the industry, including corporate events, sporting events, fairs and festivals and performances, has been resuscitated to address recent threats to all of the above.
Reached the day after GMID, the president of LEC, Nancy Shaffer, emphasized the importance of working together to support the message of Lec Vic President and Affairs of the Wendy Porter government is doing together with the director of Marketing and Communications, to the Mercuro, the president of Government Affairs, Dwayne Thomas, and the treasurer Russ Callahan.
LEC issued a statement that puts a face to the 12 million people who work to keep lives at 1.2 million small businesses. “These are not a faceless numbers: they are planners, producers, AV technicians, apples, riggers, exhibition houses, lighting designers, scenic builders, display calls, rental companies, decorators, catering, transport equipment, translators, musicians, photographers, florists and thousands of independent workers who give life to events every day,” said the statement.
He called the newly announced rates “another blow to the live events ecosystem”, an industry that already dealt with a 38% increase in costs since 2019.
He pointed out that imported products tariffs increase the cost of everything, from staging and signaling to food, entertainment technology and travel equipment. “When these costs increase, we see a domino effect: corporate trip freezing, marketing budgets harden, sponsorships are reduced and internal and external events are the first to go.”
The statement emphasized that these commercial losses not only harm the meetings industry. It hurts all industries that are based on events to boost brand visibility, thought leadership, lead generation, employee participation and income. “The subsequent impact is real. Events are not a line to cut, they are a critical lever for growth,” according to Shaffer.
“We urge those responsible for formulating policies to understand the total scope of this decision. The undergoing the live events industry not only threatens jobs, but threatens the platforms that help US companies grow, connect and prosper,” the statement concluded.
What individual planners can do
Goodwin promised to work with members of members, coalition partners and other interested parties in Washington, DC, to advocate for commercial policies that will strengthen the competitiveness of the United States commercial and professionals industry in the future in the future and allow us to continue serving as a growth engine for the economy of the United States.
He suggested aligning with ECA defense networkEmail email action and following the ECA Tariff Resource Center on the ECA website with the latest news that affects the industry.
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