Chemicals USA: Profit from Trump Presidency

The US chemicals industry could become one of the big profiteers of Donald Trump’s presidency: As the newly elected 45th US president announced to cut back regulations and establish trade barriers for foreign imports, the National Association of Chemical Distributors (NACD) sees an end of the “oppressive” business framework of the past…

According to industry media HIS Chemical Week, NACD’s vice president for regulatory affairs, Jennifer Gibson, said she was “certain, the completely oppressive regulatory environment the industry has endured for the past eight years will come to a stop”, although it would take some time to “reverse” the regulations implemented during the Obama presidency. As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is still working busily during the last weeks of the outgoing administration, there might be even more and new regulations ahead.

The latest regulation to be imposed on chemicals producers and distributors, the Frank R. Lautenberg Chemical Safety Act, saw a reformation of the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), giving the EPA the authority necessary to evaluate existing chemicals and deadlines, based on risk-based safety standards. The NACD had previously complained about elaborate testing and costs related to the new evaluation process.

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Other regions are less enthusiastic about the future US president: Marco Mensink, Director General of the European Chemical Industry Association Cefic, stated that “volatility on markets and uncertainty will prevail... The uncertainty is the key issue. What we do know is that both climate policy and international trade will operate in a very different environment.”

Presidential election

USA: Reactions to Trump's victory

During his campaign, Donald Trump emphasized that he would revise US trade policy with the intention to stop trade deal negotiations like the Trans-Pacific Partnership with Asian countries or the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) with the EU. He also promised to repeal the Paris climate agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions as well as re-negotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement NAFTA with Canada and Mexico.

This article was first published on www.process-worldwide.com.

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