Camilla Bergman: Grit eats tariffs for breakfast – why Trump's trade war doesn't scare me

I'm writing this 'live' from Gotland, Sweden's largest island which I visited over the weekend.

Located in the Baltic Sea and once a key trade centre for the Vikings, Gotland today is home to impact companies like Moving Floor (self cleaning floors for pig pens that reduces livestock emissions) and ambitious carbon-hungry hemp farms.

It’s also a place that never stops surprising me with its entrepreneurial spirit. No matter where you go, there’s always someone serving up magically delicious pizza or selling upcycled furniture in exactly the kind of Gotland aesthetic everyone seems to want.

And honestly, it’s that same entrepreneurial spirit that makes me worry a little less about Trump’s trade wars.

Not because there’s no reason to be concerned – there absolutely is. Europe is deeply dependent on the US, and Trump’s unpredictable behavior sends ripples through everything from capital markets to politics. For impact startups, tariffs hit some companies directly if they’re selling to the US, while others might feel the knock-on effects as investors tighten their wallets.

And somehow, there’s comfort in that clarity

At this point, nothing Trump does really surprises me. If anything, I’m more surprised that people are still so surprised. If history has taught us anything, it’s that leaders like Trump rarely make sudden U-turns. On the contrary – the rhetoric escalates, the chaos deepens.

By now, we should have learned that you can’t build a strategy that relies on Trump making rational decisions. It’s time to stop treating him as a temporary problem.

But here’s the thing: it’s exactly in moments like these that we can rally. That’s what I keep hearing from many impact investors when we talk. And honestly, we’re in a great position to do just that. Sweden is one of the richest countries in the world, yet we keep punching way above our weight when it comes to innovation and success stories. We’re frontrunners in the green transition. We know how to tackle challenges, show resilience, and collaborate.

"It’s up to Europe now to take the lead and bring some stability into a chaotic world," says Pia Sandvik, CEO of the industry association Technology Industries of Sweden – and I couldn’t agree more.

The only thing we know for sure is that there will be turbulence. And somehow, there’s comfort in that clarity.

So what’s the plan? We do what we’ve always done: roll up our sleeves, keep building, and show the world how it’s done.