How Trump’s whipsaw trade agenda is threatening economic growth

President Donald Trump’s decision to impose punishing tariffs on the U.S.’s biggest trading partners is clouding the economic outlook as businesses consider pausing future hiring and investment.

Trump’s whipsaw approach to trade policy — which has included sweeping proclamations about universal tariffs followed by delays, exemptions and reversals — has undercut businesses’ ability to plan ahead during the early days of his administration. And while he has sworn to pursue an agenda that would empower private businesses, the uncertainty generated by his myriad tariff announcements could jeopardize investment that will help the economy expand.

Private sector hiring cratered last month as more businesses cited unpredictable policies as impediments to growth, according to one widely watched survey released Wednesday. Wall Street banks like JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs are ratcheting up the likelihood of the U.S. falling into a recession within the next 12 months. Businesses in New York and New Jersey expect prices to spike by as much as 4 percent over the next year, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York says. And the Fed’s regional banks reported that trade policy is contributing to economic uncertainty across the U.S.