Be Original Americas, the nonprofit dedicated to promoting the value of original designs throughout the Americas, recently hosted a series of talks that examined the impact of tariffs on steel and aluminum proposed by the Trump administration earlier this year. The tariffs have generated an increase in production overhead by amplifying costs of materials necessary for production as well as a shortage of materials.
The first of the two talks, “Design in the Time of Tariffs,” was held in at the Museo Nacional de Antropología in Mexico City as part of Design Week Mexico. The panel, which tackled issues of how creatives evaluate work and professional practices amidst tariffs, comprised Diana Budds, senior story producer for Curbed; Gensler principal Antonio Caliz; and Blu Dot CEO and founder John Christakos. The second talk, entitled “Design’s Future in the Era of Trump,” took place on October 16th at fuseproject in San Francisco. Taking a deep dive into the impact of tariffs and sanctions across numerous design industries, the panel included fuseproject CEO and founder Yves Béhar; Suzanne LeBarre, design editor for Fast Company; Gensler principal and design director Collin Burry; Studio O+A principal Primo Orpilla; LGC Design founder and creative director Laura Guido-Clark; Ted Boerner, founder of Ted Boerner Furniture Design; and Council Design founder Derek Chen.
