Trump meets Corporate America as economic worries nip stocks

11/03/2025 08:53 AST

US President Donald Trump is meeting the CEOs of America's biggest companies, many whose market value has dipped in recent days as recession and inflation fears soured consumer and investor sentiment.

The Republican president is expected to speak with around 100 CEOs at a regular meeting of the Business Roundtable in Washington, an influential group of CEOs leading major US companies from Apple to JPMorgan Chase and Walmart. Trump met with technology company executives at the White House on Monday.

Trump's economic policies so far have centered on a blitz of tariff announcements - some of which have taken effect and others delayed or set to kick in later - that he has said will correct unbalanced trade relations, bring jobs back to the country and stop the flow of illegal narcotics from abroad.

Markets have been spooked by the prospect that the policies could raise prices for businesses, boosting inflation, and undermine consumer confidence in a blow to economic growth. US stocks tumbled on Monday, putting the benchmark S&P 500 down nearly 3 percent since Trump's election in November last year and 4.5 percent underwater for the year overall. Meanwhile, a survey of American households showed consumers growing more pessimistic about their prospects. European and Asian stock markets diverged Tuesday after a sharp sell-off on Wall Street fuelled by fears about the US economy as President Donald Trump presses ahead with steep tariffs.

Traders had initially welcomed Trump's election win in late 2024, optimistic that his promised tax cuts and deregulation would boost the world's biggest economy and help equities push to further record highs. But there is now a growing pessimism that a recession could be on the cards amid warnings that tariffs imposed on key trading partners will reignite inflation, forcing the Federal Reserve to again start raising interest rates.

"Markets are jittery and volatility seems like the only certainty while the White House pushes hard to usher in a new era, seemingly happy for stock markets to be collateral damage," said Matt Britzman, senior equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown. The president's weekend comments that the economy was facing "a period of transition" and his refusal to rule out a recession did little to soothe investor worries. London's stock market dipped in morning deals Tuesday, while Paris and Frankfurt edged higher, helped by gains for infrastructure and defense stocks on European spending plans.

A new wave of US tariffs due this week will see levies of 25 percent on steel and aluminum imports.

Trump has imposed an additional 20 percent tariff on Chinese goods entering the United States, as well as 25 percent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, although he suspended most of the duties on US neighbors until April 2, when he plans to unveil a global regime of reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners.

Trump last month said the policies could cause "short-term, some little pain" before delivering long-run benefits. In a Fox News interview aired over the weekend, he declined to predict whether his economic policies would cause a recession.

"Industry leaders have responded to President Trump's America First economic agenda of tariffs, deregulation, and the unleashing of American energy with trillions in investment commitments that will create thousands of new jobs," said White House spokesman Kush Desai, dismissing negative talk about the outlook. Until recently, investors have been buoyant that the Republican president's policies would tip towards stimulating more growth, for instance through lower taxes, or easing inflationary pressures, for instance by loosening regulation on fossil fuel production.

But tax cuts need congressional approval. And some economists see plans to increase deportations of undocumented immigrants increasing price pressures in the labor market, while cutting the federal workforce could raise unemployment.

Khaleej Times