American businesses are losing confidence in the US economy under Trump due to the tariff wars. CNBC’s CFO Council quarterly survey for Q1 2025 learned that America’s top CFOs are increasingly pessimistic about the economy due to these “disruptive” and “aggressive” tariff policies.
Around 60% of respondents believe the US will fall into a recession by the second half of this year, with 15% believing the recession will come in 2026. When this survey was conducted last quarter, prior to the tariff wars and trade volatility, only 7% of CFOs believed the nation was heading into a recession. This figure is a glimpse at how heavily trade uncertainty is destroying confidence.
How do corporations plan ahead when trade restrictions are subject to change at a moment’s notice? It’s simply not possible, and what happens is corporations will err on the side of caution and prematurely raise prices regardless of whether the tariffs go into effect. Unsurprisingly, nearly all (95%) of respondents said ever-changing trade policies are impacting their ability to make business decisions. Will tariffs be implemented? When? At what rate? The uncertainty is causing complete chaos in boardrooms across America.
Another 30% cited inflation as the biggest business risk but that is currently directly tied to this tariff ordeal, as is the valid concern of consumer demand (20%) as the people are also losing confidence in the economy and therefore are less likely to spend. Everything is connected. Inflation rises and demand drops as the people are unwilling and/or unable to spend.
Then 90% believe tariffs will create “resurgent inflation,” and half do not believe the Fed will be able to meet the 2% inflation target until the second half of 2026, if not 2027. I explained in an earlier blog post how the Fed cannot control tariff inflation through rates as rates do not offset higher prices set by trade barriers.
I have repeatedly warned that this tariff fiasco could be the nail in the coffin for Trump’s legacy. Those advising Trump are idiots who do not understand how the world economy functions. America will not be “liberated” on April 2 when many of these tariffs are set to go into effect. America cannot have a boom when the rest of the world is contracting. The world economy and peace survive on free trade.
