Workers unload steel from a freight ship in the dockyard at the Port of Detroit in Detroit, Michigan. Credit: Matthew Hatcher/Bloomberg.

President Donald Trump’s latest trade-war salvo, the largest act of American protectionism since the 1930s, will likely put the brakes on U.S. growth in the near term—and it’s just one of the shocks piling up for increasingly nervous consumers, businesses, and investors. There are also Elon Musk’s cuts to the federal workforce, the clampdown on immigration, and a potential drag on business investment amid much policy uncertainty. Add it all up, says the growing consensus among economists, and it spells a slowdown for the world’s biggest economy.

Few see much danger of outright contraction this year, and there are growth-friendly measures like tax cuts in the pipeline too. Still, the specter of a “Trumpcession” has been raised. An escalating tit-for-tat trade war would only amplify it—and Trump has made plain that many more tariffs will follow the ones he imposed on Mexico, Canada, and China last week (only to revoke the duties on some imports from Mexico and Canada later in the week).

Complete your profile to continue reading and get FREE access to Treasury & Risk, part of your ALM digital membership.

Your access to unlimited Treasury & Risk content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:

  • Thought leadership on regulatory changes, economic trends, corporate success stories, and tactical solutions for treasurers, CFOs, risk managers, controllers, and other finance professionals
  • Informative weekly newsletter featuring news, analysis, real-world case studies, and other critical content
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.