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American consumers are increasingly anxious as President Donald Trump launches an agenda that includes a range of trading partners’ tariffs.
A pair of surveys closely watched on Wall Street showed the economy was shocking, contrary to the fanaticism of the Trump election in November.
The gloomy sentiment of consumers – the backbone of strong U.S. economic growth – is concerned about some investors and the Wall Street S&P 500 stock index has fallen in recent days.
The conference committee has had the largest consumer confidence index since August 2021, when the infectious delta variant of the coronavirus was sweeping across the country. The conference committee’s think tank meeting committee said survey respondents mentioned trade and tariffs that were not seen since Trump’s first semester.
About one in five respondents spontaneously mentioned tariffs in the University of Michigan survey of consumer sentiment, less than 2% higher than before the election, as overall sentiment fell by 10%. Investigation Director Joanne HSU said all five components of the Michigan Index have deteriorated, a rare situation.
“The decline this month is a consistent agreement between different population groups and multiple aspects of the economy,” HSU said.
“People have less confidence in personal finance, current and future business conditions and purchases of commercial conditions.”
Michigan Index has seen growth expected for the economy to grow for five consecutive months to December. Some consumers feel relieved that the presidential election ended without struggle as Trump disputed Joe Biden’s losses in 2020. Executives also praised Trump’s deregulation agenda.
The president’s core tariffs on his campaign. Since his inauguration, Trump has imposed an additional 10% tax on Chinese imports, threatening 25% tariffs in Canada and Mexico, plans to impose 25% tariffs on All Steel and Aluminum and to many commodities Partners announced “reciprocal” tariffs.
Economists say tariffs can increase consumer prices by increasing the cost of imported goods. The U.S. economy has been working to eliminate the surge in inflation during the pandemic. For example, over the past year, eggs have increased retail prices by more than 50%, which reminds people of higher cost of living.
Consumers are very happy with the potential of tariffs, as most people know that this will lead to higher prices. Ryan Sweet, chief U.S. economist at Oxford Economics, said the ghosts of inflation in the past are still haunting many consumers.
A February survey by the conference committee found that average consumer inflation expectations jumped to 6% from 5.2% in February.
Despite the pressure of inflation, consumer spending remains durable. U.S. retail sales in January began to decline from the Christmas period, but rose 4.2% year-on-year, according to the Census Bureau’s failure to adjust for inflation. The country’s largest hardware chain said Tuesday that its largest hardware chain is expected to “stay healthy” as its sales resumed growth over the same period after a two-year decline.
But some consumer goods companies have pointed out signs of weakness.
“Consumers are absolutely under pressure, and we’ve been talking for a while,” Clorox CEO Linda Rendle told the New York conference’s consumer analyst panel last week. They were “stuffed with garbage bags and were using that spray bottle.” The last spray”.
Andre Schulten, chief financial officer of Procter & Gamble, consumer goods company, told the meeting that he expects “the environment around us will continue to be volatility and challenges, from input costs to currency to consumers, retail Business and geopolitical dynamics.”
He added: “The enacted and proposed tariffs introduce other volatility we are closely watching, such as the direct cost impact of raw materials and finished products across borders, the impact on exchange rates, the impact on interest rates and the impact of nationalism on consumer behavior .”
A survey by the conference committee showed that consumer outlook for business conditions, employment and stock markets deteriorated. The S&P 500 fell 0.5% Tuesday after the confidence survey was released.
“Consumers are worried about the scattering of macro levels – i.e. less work, slower growth and higher inflation,” said Torsten Slok, chief economist at investment firm Apollo Global Management.
