Source: “Trump promised a golden age” for the economy. Then Trump unveiled tariffs and a phone call from a mold maker in Michigan
Barr said that a person reached out to them from Ford Motor Company. They’re looking into it. They’re not saying they’re going to do anything, but they want to know what their options are. So without these tariffs, those phone calls wouldn’t even have taken place.”
Plastic injection molds for the auto industry are made by Tom Barr, a mold maker in Michigan. He lost business to competitors in China but since the tariffs went into effect, he’s had four phone calls from potential customers who are considering bringing their orders home.
Source: Trump promised a ‘golden age’ for the economy. Then he unveiled tariffs
The End of the World: Implications of Trump’s Import Taxes on the U.S. Economy and Gross Domestic Product
“At the end of the day, it’s just a tax on the end consumers,” Carpenter said. “We’re definitely losing business. We’re not losing it to a competitor. We don’t have the opportunity for a sale.
Carpenter runs a furniture and lighting store in Boston and imports most of his lighting fixtures from China. The tariffs were worse for his business than the housing crisis.
Trump has imposed 10% taxes on nearly everything the United States imports, along with tariffs of 145% on many goods from China. The President wants to suspend the additional tariffs only so that businesses and consumers know what the taxes will look like in the future.
The falling stock market has also taken a toll on confidence. As of Tuesday, the S&P 500 index was down 7.3% since Inauguration Day, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq was down 11%. It’s the market’s worst performance at the start of a new presidency since the 1970s.
The Conference Board’s survey found that expectations of the job market were the lowest since 2009, when the economy was bleeding hundreds of thousands of jobs every month.
“Although it’s bad, it’s not the end of the world.” At the end of the day, recession is about loss of faith. “Consumers lose faith that they will be able to hold onto their job when they cut back on spending, and we go into recession.”
In the past five months, the Conference Board’s consumer confidence index has fallen every single month and the number one concern is tariffs. Many of those surveyed say they’re worried that Trump’s import taxes will raise prices and possibly drag the economy into a recession. The forward-looking elements of the confidence index are already well below the level that typically signals a looming recession.
Economic growth appears to be slowing. The stock market has dropped sharply. Consumer confidence dropped to its lowest ever level since the start of the COVID-19 PAIN.
Figures to be released by the Commerce Department on Wednesday are expected to show that the United States’ gross domestic product grew much more slowly in the first quarter of the year, compared with the final months of 2024.
The quarterly GDP report covers the final weeks of the Biden administration and the early months of Trump’s term, including the first rumblings of the president’s new trade war.
Businesses and consumers stock up before the tariffs go into effect, dragging down growth because of the surge in imports. Imports are a net negative for GDP.
“Consumers continued driving the train but with much less gusto than they have been up until now,” said Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics.
Automakers can’t figure out what the hell is going on with Trump’s tariffs: GM’s CEO was paralyzed by uncertainty
The transportation editor has a lot of experience covering aviation, EV and public transportation. His work has appeared in both the Daily News and the City & State.
For a better snapshot of how bizarre this is, just look at GM. The nation’s largest automaker was expecting a pretty robust year of profits until Trump blew everything up with his tariffs. According to The New York Times, GM pulled its guidance, stating that any prediction of profits would be a guess. The company also postponed its conference call with financial analysts to discuss its first-quarter results by a couple days, while it assesses the impact of the latest curveball from the White House.
The auto industry is paralyzed by uncertainty. The chief financial officer of the parent company of Jeep, Dodge, and Ram told analysts that they are waiting for more clarity on the economy, according to a report.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk: Implications for the Auto Industry and for New Models in the Era of Car Taxes and Higher Tariffs
Even Tesla CEO (and “First Buddy”) Elon Musk said he was doing his best to nudge the president into lowering tariffs on imported car parts. “I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity,” Musk said during Tesla’s earnings call last week. This decision is up to the elected representative of the people, being the President of the United States. So, you know, I’ll continue to advocate for lower tariffs rather than higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do.”
Car companies don’t like this stuff. These are global, multibillion-dollar companies that like to plan years — if not decades — ahead, weighing investments in factories and new models based on sales predictions and forecasts. Market certainty is the foundation of all this.
Many factories and production hubs could take many years to build in the US, and this speaks to the massive frustration of the industry as the rules of the US tariffs are no longer sustainable.
The situation is fast approaching a crisis, with all major auto stock prices trading lower each successive day. New models are being put on hold due to customer panic and dealers scrambling. It is like being stuck in purgatory and no one is able to get out right away.
