On Friday, Newsweek reported that American executives and CEOs from some of the largest and most influential businesses – including supporters of President Donald Trump – have concerns about the United States’ economic future.
As Newsweek reports, “Trump's campaign promises to roll back regulations and foster innovation, garnered him support from many in the business world, including major industry leaders. The CEOs of Apple, Google and Amazon were front row at the president's inauguration, and a key part of his administration has been the heavy involvement of Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk.”
While layoffs continue on the federal level, recent stock market turmoil shows the private sector likewise has doubts about the president’s economic plans As CNBC reports, the overall health of the American economy remains in doubt – especially when it comes to “hiring and spending.”
Some CEOs are pointed in their concerns.
“Struggling to adapt to announcements regarding trade, and whether to treat them as threats that may not evolve into policy, has frustrated Hassane El-Khoury, CEO of ON Semiconductor,” Khoury told Semafor . “You can't move a factory overnight. It takes four years to build a [semiconductor fabrication] plant."
Many of these concerns come from uncertainty within tariff policy changes and sector exceptions.
Newsweek reports, “On the real impact of tariffs on foreign imports, Ford CEO Jim Farley said that 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico would ‘blow a hole in the U.S. industry that we have never seen,’ and that what he had witnessed from the administration so far had been ‘a lot of costs and a lot of chaos.’”
“His comments, made during a recent conference in New York and shared with the New York Times, echo those made by Mary Barra, CEO of General Motors,” Newsweek added.
“With respect to possible tariffs, we are working across our supply chain, logistics network and assembly plants so that we are prepared to mitigate near-term impacts. Many of these actions are no cost or low cost," Barra said during the company's most recent earnings call in January. "What we won't do is spend large amounts of capital without clarity."
But there is still some optimism.
Newsweek reports, “During the Bloomberg Invest conference this week, Cathie Wood, CEO of global asset management firm Ark Invest, said that Trump's policies would usher in a business boom similar to the "golden age" experienced during Ronald Reagan's administration.”