Big business CEOs are raising the alarm about President Trump’s trade policies, fretting that his pursuit of tariffs against trade partners could damage the economy.
The quarterly CEO Economic Outlook Index released by the Business Roundtable showed expectations declining in the second quarter for the first time in two years. While CEO expectations are still high, there are signs that they are growing wary about the possibility of fallout from Trump’s pursuit of punitive tariffs.
Nine in 10 CEOs surveyed said that the administration’s trade policies risked slower economic growth.
“The administration’s policies on tax and regulation are working,” said Joshua Bolten, the group’s president. “The trade policy is a large and growing concern.”
The Business Roundtable is comprised of CEOs from many of the biggest corporations in the country.
Jamie Dimon, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase and the group’s chairman, said that the economy was poised to extend the recovery, but that “one of the fly in the ointments is this trade stuff.”
The group has lobbied the administration on its push for tariffs on steel, aluminum, automobiles, and other goods, as well as its renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, but has not been able to stave off damaging proposals.
The CEOs have a “good working relationship with this president and this White House,” said Bolten. “We feel like we get a good hearing. But the president so far has rejected most of our advice about trade policy.”
[Related: Paul Ryan scolds White House on tariff move]
