Here are key business issues that presidential candidates must address

With the 2020 election fast approaching, presidential hopefuls set on wooing business owners need to devise a courtship strategy based on more than platitudes. Given that many entrepreneurs are supportive of various Trump economic policies, and according to some polls, from a financial standpoint, feel he has their “best interests at heart,” candidates must address foundational issues — including taxes, regulation, labor, tariffs, the environment, healthcare, and income inequality — while remembering that this is still a capitalist democracy, not a socialist country.

First, although many business owners cheered President Donald Trump’s tax reform, there remains a sense that middle-market businesses benefited little, while big business and the wealthy were its main beneficiaries.

Candidates should define their plan for equitable taxes and which temporary breaks they would make permanent. It’s also important to remember the economic effect of both tax increases and tax breaks on the deficit, which recently hit a record $22 trillion and is still growing. This also needs to be balanced against social needs.

Regulation is another important issue. Under this administration, deregulation is driven by the requirement to eliminate two regulations for every new one added.

Business owners are generally supportive of deregulation as it can substantially impact their bottom line. Candidates should reassure business owners that under their leadership, government would be responsive, reasonable, and committed to eliminating red tape, while keeping in mind that many regulations are in the public’s best interest and end up saving money in the long term. For example, many states and companies do not want a rollback of auto emission standards due to the negative effects on climate, and ultimately, the economy.

Another key issue involves labor. Trump’s anti-immigration policies worry many business sectors, including agriculture, construction, and restaurant and hospitality, which rely on this labor.

Candidates should adopt level-headed approaches to this sensitive issue, neither avoiding it, nor demonizing immigrants — who are part of the ever- changing tapestry of this country and grow our economy. Without immigration, we would not have the same GDP growth.

Also, burdensome tariffs (ultimately a tax paid by consumers); a current, if fragile, truce in the U.S.-China trade war; and the looming threat of more tariffs, are part of the new reality for entrepreneurs, manufacturers, and farmers. Given how tariffs affect the supply chain, impacting the U.S. and global economies, candidates must develop a clearly articulated policy aimed at defusing tensions with China and other nations, while not ignoring trade problems and the transfer/theft of intellectual property.

Another issue, the environment, is a sore spot for green-minded business owners who decry Trump’s environmental record — including pulling out of the Paris Climate Accord and undermining the Clean Power Plan.

The environment has economic and global repercussions: It impacts insurance rates for businesses, can shut down supply chains, increases food costs, drives mass migration, and is not a matter that can be kicked down the road anymore. With the environment, a stalemate that continues to stagnate results in disaster for generations to come.

A sixth area is healthcare. While the administration has made clear its intention to repeal Obamacare, its proposed solution remains elusive, and we have yet to see what the courts will do. Uncertainty is a death knell for business owners.

Finally, presidential hopefuls should consider that increasing income for lower earners translates into more buying power and a stimulated economy. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25. Despite Trump’s campaign promises, it has not been increased in 10 years, although many companies have raised wages out of necessity to secure employees.

It is not sustainable to have to provide taxpayer-funded assistance in the form of food stamps and other benefits to those who are working 40-hour weeks, but still can’t make ends meet.

Thoughtfully fleshing out issues that matter to business owners will enable presidential hopefuls to stand out and gain support. These are tough issues, but they cannot be ignored by either the administration or candidates. In the political arena, where blustering, posturing, and unbridled contention are the modus operandi, a moderate, cool and balanced voice of reason could be an irresistible magnet around which America rallies.

James S. Cassel is a monthly contributor to Business Monday of the Miami Herald who writes about issues affecting the middle market; the views expressed are his and not necessarily those of the newspaper. Cassel is co- founder and chairman of Cassel Salpeter & Co., an investment-banking firm based in Miami.