Policy jolts Businesses blindsided by Trump tariff uncertainty

Donald Trump declared there to be "no room left" for a deal with Canada and Mexico last week, launching a trade war against his nation's closest allies that he presented as a bid to protect America's soul. Then he pulled back.

- By Callum Jones

A day after imposing steep tariffs on his country's neighbours, the US president announced a month-long reprieve for carmakers. The next day, tariffs were also suspended on almost all goods from Canada and Mexico. Tariffs on China, levied at a 10% rate in February and doubled to 20% last Tuesday, remain in place.

Trump and his aides are now trailing a fresh wave of tariffs in early April as "the big one", with myriad markets - including the EU - in their sights. Each abrupt and erratic jolt on policy in Washington reverberates around the world, with firms in the US and far beyond trying to keep track of developments from one day to the next.

The architects of Trumponomics insist it will pave the way for a greater, more prosperous future. But firms are struggling to make out the economic landscape now, let alone what might happen next.

"When you have such a high level of uncertainty, and have a set of policies that seem to impact every part of the economy... it leads to businesses essentially being frozen," said Sameera Fazili, the former deputy director of the National Economic Council under Joe Biden.