A significant majority of businesses from around the world expect to be negatively impacted by tariffs being enacted by US President Donald Trump or other countries in response, a new survey suggests.
GlobalData’s Tariffs Sentiment Polls survey, carried out in the weeks after the US Government announced a 90-day pause on most US reciprocal tariffs on April 9, found that nearly two-thirds (61%) of 497 respondents across its network of B2B news websites expect their businesses to be impacted negatively by tariffs over the next 12 months.
In its report outlining the survey results, GlobalData says of this level of concern: “Indeed, the risks of a US and global recession are growing. Despite the 90-day pause on most reciprocal tariffs, the near- and longer-term outlook is dogged by uncertainty, complicating investment and management decisions.”
Comparatively, only a fifth (20%) of respondents each indicated that they expect positive impacts or neither positive nor negative impacts.
“There will be limited opportunities for success in the face of high proposed tariffs,” GlobalData contends. “The real challenge lies in taking advantage of these opportunities in a macroeconomic climate that will remain challenging for the next few months at least.”
Indeed, 77% of 306 respondents indicated that their company’s level of concern had already increased slightly or significantly over the past six months. Just shy of a quarter (23%) said there had been no change, while only 11% said there had been a slight or significant decrease.
“Tariff concerns would have already been on the radar, given that Donald Trump made them a central pillar of his election campaign,” GlobalData states. “This concern only increased after the so-called ‘Liberation Day’ on April 2, 2025, which sent stock markets plunging. Markets have since been in flux, with postponements, revisions and exclusions fuelling the general sense of uncertainty. The completion of trade deals between the US and key trading partners may be the necessary antidote to quell tariff concerns.”
Well over half (57%) of 602 respondents indicated that they are very concerned about the impact of tariffs on their business, with a further 11% relaying slight concern. Only a quarter (25%) indicated that they are not very concerned or not concerned at all.
“This could be down to the nature of their business (i.e., services are not subject to US reciprocal tariffs) or the goods they sell (i.e., semiconductors and electronics are currently exempt from high US reciprocal tariffs on Chinese imports),” the report explains. “Some businesses also stand to benefit from spillover effects.”
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