US firms, including Walmart, warn that the trade war chaos is hurting demand

US President Donald Trump's 90-day reprieve on some tariffs sent the stock market soaring. But the chaos sown by his trade war means corporate America is planning for a recession.

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DALLAS -

Corporate chiefs from Delta Air Lines to Walmart are warning of a wave of pessimism that is swamping demand and making it difficult to predict what is to come.

Mr Jamie Dimon, the JPMorgan Chase & Co chief executive officer, said on April 9 that defaults will rise as the economy worsens.

Carmakers are offering fresh discounts or pledging to hold prices steady in a bid to lure consumers scared off by talk of tariffs.

Comments from Delta CEO Ed Bastian exemplified the dread. Reminded that in March he had said he did not think the US was headed into a recession, Mr Bastian conceded to an interviewer on CNBC that things had changed.

"We're acting as if we're going into a recession," he said.

"Whether you're a corporate manager trying to figure out whether you want to step forward on an investment, whether you're a bond trader or in the markets trying to allocate capital, or even as a consumer, I think everything has stalled" because of uncertainty tied to Mr Trump's policies, he told CNBC.

Mr Trump, who came to office on a pledge to bolster economic growth and fortify the US economy, is instead unleashing a wave of panic across markets and businesses as consumers and investors try to make sense of his policies and their impacts.