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A slew of policy changes and new policies from the second istration of President Donald Trump could represent sweeping changes for many facets of life in the United States. The gambling industry might not be immune from many of the impacts.
Those impacts could include workforce shortages, energy issues, and difficulties in securing necessary components for gaming technology. Industry officials are currently taking wait-and-see positions on the matters.
Policy changes that could affect the US gaming industry
When it comes to policies that could affect gambling licensees in the US, three policy focuses are central to the conversation. Those are:
- Immigration and the legal status of hospitality workers who may be undocumented
- Environmental policies and their impact on energy availability
- Economic policies that could limit availability of electronics
The Trump istration has already moved on some of these policies, like establishing new tariffs on goods from China and reversing limits on fossil fuel production imposed by the Biden istration. The immigration issue is more capable of impacting brick-and-mortar casinos in the US than online casinos, and there are divergent opinions of how serious that impact might be.
Deportations could threaten casinos’ workforce
In the run-up to his election, Trump promised increased immigration law enforcement, in keeping with policies from his first istration. Since the Trump istration took control of the executive branch of the United States government, thousands of people have been arrested on alleged violations of immigration law.
These arrests and the threat of them has caused some undocumented workers to call off work, creating staffing issues for some businesses. Ted Pappageorge, who is the Secretary-Treasurer of the Culinary Union Local 226, doesn’t believe that any enforcement actions will have significant impacts on Las Vegas casinos, however.
“In our industry on the Las Vegas Strip, it’s not an issue,” Pappageorge told reporters like Dana Wager of KSNV. “Well, it’s heavily regulated. Most industries are not regulated like gaming.”
Pappageorge pointed out that being hired to work in a Nevada casino requires potential employees to prove their legal status in the US. One of the programs under which non-US citizens can prove that status is through the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program that was created by former US President Barack Obama.
Trump attempted to repeal DACA in his first term in office, however, and migrant workers fear he might try to do so again. If he does and is successful, that might affect casino workers across the country.
Gaming industry stakeholders in places like Las Vegas are concerned about another form of movement. Although the cause for some immediate concerns have been delayed, the larger threat still looms.
Tariffs could diminish gaming tourism in the US
In January, the Trump istration announced tariffs on goods from the United States’ neighboring nations, Canada and Mexico. The levies included a 25% blanket tariff on products from both nations and an additional 10% on energy products from Canada.
Before the tariffs took effect, however, Trump announced a 30-day delay that so far has not been extended. If the policies do take effect, some worry that casinos in the US could suffer drops in visitations.
According to Richard N. Velotta of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the Strip might be one of the most hard-hit places by a lack of Canadian visitors. While the tariffs themselves would not impose any direct taxes on tourism by Canadians, animosity on Canadians’ part to visiting the US because of the tariffs might create a reduction in cross-border tourism.
Velotta reports that Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority statistics show that the largest group of international visitors to the city comes from Canada. Reinforcing those are similar statistics from the US Travel Association, which also lists Nevada among the top-five destination states for Canadian visitors.
Gaming licensees in other parts of the country less dependent on Canadian tourism might not suffer to the same degree. However, another set of tariffs could mean different obstacles for casinos across the country.
Tariffs on Chinese goods could have broader implications
At the same time that Trump announced tariffs on goods from Canada and Mexico, he also implemented new taxes on a broad range of goods from China. The 10% levy will affect electronics and components for devices, which will be of concern for gaming licensees of all kinds.
China is home to almost all of the production of gallium and a strong majority of the same for germanium. Those two metals are vital for the production of semiconductors that many devices use, including gaming machines at land-based casinos and the servers that facilitate online casino gaming.
Trade wars between China and the US could make microchips vital to gaming operations more expensive and more difficult to obtain. That could result in fewer gaming terminals being produced and more obstacles to repairing existing terminals.
Additionally, servers that online casinos rely upon might also encounter maintenance and production issues. The costs of Trump policies could be more than just financial, too.
Shift favoring fossil fuels could complicate energy consumption
Over the course of less than a month in office, Trump has already reversed many policies from the Biden istration that limited production of fossil fuels and focused government energies on renewable energy sources. New policies attempt to expedite production of fossil fuels and revoke efforts to fast-track production of energy by other means.
While policies could face legal challenges and will take time to implement, uncertainty could affect energy prices and those price increases could get ed onto gamblers. Additionally, the suspended 10% levy on energy from Canada could raise energy prices in the US as well if that tariff does take effect.
Individuals in the gambling industry like Miriam Adelson were among the biggest donors to the Trump election campaign, signaling that they believed that his resuming the presidency would benefit them. In of the financial impact on the gambling industry in the US, the odds are currently stacked against that proving to be the case.
