Overwhelmingly, CEOs in our April survey said the president’s global tariff regime was responsible for their failing optimism. Two-thirds (67 percent) said they do not approve of the tariffs, and 76 percent said they would negatively or very negatively impact their businesses this year.
“Tariffs and the uncertainty of next steps that will be taken by President Trump will lead to very difficult economic times over the next year or two,” said Mitchell Metal Products President and CEO Tim Zimmerman.
“This uncertainty needs to stop,” said Donald H Lloyd II, president and CEO of St. Claire HealthCare in Kentucky. “I support tariffs but believe they need to be applied strategically, not globally.”
A growing proportion of CEOs now forecast a slowdown or recession within the next six months: 62 percent, vs. 48 percent in March, and 14 percent now predict a severe recession, up from only 3 percent last month. The largest monthly declines in the survey were found in CEOs’ outlook for revenues, profits, capex and hiring, all of which dropped sharply since March. Hiring fared the worst, with potentially ominous implications for the consumer economy. Of those polled in April, 39 percent said they would be decreasing headcount in 2025 vs. 11 percent in March (see below).
As for inflation, 81 percent now expect the cost of goods, services and labor will increase this year compared to last year, with half expecting that increase to be in the double digits.
“Although I am in support of moving more manufacturing back to the U.S., this is not how to do it,” said Peter Ensch CEO of Sani-Matic. “Initiating a trade war with our closest allies and business partners is simply bad business. The President is absolutely clueless about the amount of time it will take to accomplish this. He also appears to not understand that changing his mind every other day also increases uncertainty that does not support stability for making long-term capital investments in facilities, tooling and training a new workforce.”
“Uncertainty is playing havoc with making decisions for us and our customers. Never in my business experience have I seen such irresponsible government decisions coming from the White House with no pushback from elected representatives,” said Denise Mcintosh, CEO of Custom Powder Systems.
“I hope I’m wrong, but I expect the ‘pain’ to be here for a while. I do not trust the administration to self-correct,” said Maura Dunn, president and CEO of TrailBlazer Consulting.
