TRUE LEADERS NEEDED
We cannot blame the teachers. Harvard University – home to arguably the top MBA programme on the planet as well as countless leadership courses – has declared all-out war with Trump this month. That’s gutsy. What excuse does its alumni – from the heads of McDonald’s to Citigroup and Novartis – have?
Privately they say the law is the law. Tariffs are implemented under executive authority – having been delegated by Congress decades ago to combat unfair practices or issues of national security.
But unlike other policies, there are few checks and balances with tariffs. Congress can’t undo them and there is no need for the administration to demonstrate benefit, let alone defend an economic cost.
Not much can be done, in other words. But there is nothing to stop chief executives pressuring Congress to revoke executive authority over tariffs. They already sign off US$4.5 billion annually on US federal lobbying.
Short of that they could also urge lawmakers to tighten the criteria for imposing tariffs, as suggested by the Brookings Institution, introduce mandatory reporting or strengthen judicial oversight.
A dozen CEOs demanding these changes would fail. Hundreds or indeed thousands of bosses acting as one – representing consumers, employees and suppliers – would be impossible to ignore.
Chairs and boards have to step up. Decades of peace and economic stability have allowed technocrats, operational chiefs and finance-wallahs to rise to the top of business. Many suffer from imposter syndrome for good reason. They must be replaced with true leaders of vision and steel, less skilled at empathy workshops but ruthless when it comes to fighting for what is right – for shareholders and, frankly, all of us.
A supine response to tariffs suggests the current lot of CEOs should be fired – as someone in the White House might say.
