Chief Executives Break Silence on Trump Trade War

Business leaders have avoided voicing concerns about tariffs for weeks but some are getting vocal

- Chip Cutter

The reality of a global trade war is starting to push corporate bosses to do what they tried for months to avoid: criticize President Trump's policies.

In the days after Trump announced the sweeping levies last week, chief executives stuck to privately channeling their frustrations to trade groups and lobbyists. Some hastily arranged new meetings on trade with Trump officials, sometimes receiving unsatisfying answers, executives and corporate advisers say.

Now, after a three-day market sell-off and warnings from Wall Street titans such as Bill Ackman and Jamie Dimon, more business leaders are openly voicing concern.

"Tariff is not a beautiful word. I disagree with that—we are in a global economy," said Bahram Akradi, CEO of the high-end fitness chain Life Time Group Holdings, in an interview Monday.

"This cannot stay," he added. "You cannot apply this type of gridlock and this much friction to the world's trade."

The CEO of Ethan Allen, which manufactures 75% of its furniture across North America, also suggested the president retreat from the tariff offensive he unveiled in the White House Rose Garden last week.

"There's nothing wrong in coming down—it's not a failure," said Farooq Kathwari, CEO of the Danbury, Conn.-based furniture maker. A mountain climber, Kathwari compared the rollout of the tariff policies to an ascent up a steep cliff. "If you go too fast, you can get water in your lungs."