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Reuters seeking comment - ASAP

ended 09. April 2025

A journalist at Reuters wants views on Trump announcing a 90-day pause on many of the tariffs (bar China)? How does this uncertainty affect companies' ability to take decisions on spending/hiring/making any plans? Deadline: now.

11 responses from the Newspage community

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Anita Wright
Chartered Financial Planner at Ribble Wealth Management
A 90-day pause on tariffs, while framed as a temporary relief, creates considerable uncertainty for businesses. Despite the appearance of flexibility, companies are likly to remain hesitant to make spending or hiring commitments without clarity on long-term trade policy. The pause retains a 10% tariff, which still raises import costs, and leaves businesses questioning what happens after 90 days. As a result, we often see inertia—investments are delayed, cash flow projections are revised, and expansion plans are paused. Supplier relationships and procurement planning may also suffer as firms await clearer signals. In sectors reliant on global manufacturing—especially where supply chains involve Vietnam or Indonesia as conduits for Chinese goods—the impact is even more pronounced. Ultimately, temporary pauses without structural resolution only prolong indecision and constrain growth
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Gabriel McKeown
Political & Economics Writer at Sad Rabbit - Substack Newsletter
This move is likely to feel less like a strategic pivot and more akin to waiting in limbo at a crossroads where all signposts point to future uncertainty. There is a growing consensus that Washington shows no signs of reversing course on the primary tariff targets, such as China, framing these tariffs as essential for restoring economic sovereignty and correcting decades of perceived trade imbalances. Therefore, any delays or postponements to the wider tariffs that were seen as purely negotiating tools, will not bring about a huge amount of relief. Additionally, despite the market reversal, this initial optimism is likely to be followed swiftly by caution, given that temporary pauses offer little protection from future volatility when a last-minute change of sentiment is always around the corner in the Trump Whitehouse.
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David Belle
Founder and Trader at Fink Money
It’s a situation of dynamic risk. Markets run on relative expectations. The situation is still bad, just less bad than before. Who knows what happens in 90 days time if macro economic data has deteriorated. Might that cause issues for the markets then if unemployment is worse than now? I guess that’s something to worry about then, but right now the risk has been alleviated and we are able to rally.
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Sam Kirk
Managing Director at J-Flex Rubber Products
SMEs are well versed when it comes to uncertainty - we've had plenty of it over the last few years after all!

Like most things political, it's not something we can control so all we try and focus on are the things we can influence.

The cautious nature of spending and recruitment is still very much apparent in our sector, however as people often say, there is always opportunity in the face of adversity, and there are one or two glimmers that suggest we might benefit from recent political events.
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Colin Low
Managing Director at Kingsfleet
Once bitten, twice shy. Businesses will now be unlikely to believe anything that is announced by the US administration. Its credibility is now indefinitely harmed by the actions of the last week. Questions remain over the course of action to be taken by the Fed at their next meeting, but even they must wonder about the policies that they are to be working with.
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Harry Goodliffe
Director at HTG Mortgages
A 90-day pause isn’t much help — it just kicks the can down the road. Most businesses need stability to plan ahead, and right now, there’s none of that. You can’t make big decisions on hiring or investment when you don’t know what the rules will be in three months. It leaves everyone stuck in limbo. For a lot of smaller companies, it’s easer to just hold back and wait rather than risk making the wrong move.
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Riz Malik
Independent Financial Adviser at R3 Wealth
The market's positive reaction is clear, but businesses cannot thrive under such erratic economic signals. This uncertainty forces companies to divert energy from growth to second guessing policy shifts. Trump’s recent actions highlight just how much influence one individual can wield unchecked over global markets.
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David Stirling
Independent Financial Adviser at Mint Wealth
Trump pausing his tariffs is akin to pushing the snooze button and falling back to sleep into a nightmare. Prolonging the pain for 3 months may well give businesses a brief moment to reassess, but the fall-out from his economic erraticism will linger for years to come.
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Scott Gallacher
Director at Rowley Turton
The 90-day delay is obviously welcome, as the market reaction shows—but let’s be clear: it’s still an unwelcome and unjustified 10% tariff on America’s friends and neighbours. The bigger issue is the unpredictability. With Trump’s constant reversals, businesses are left in limbo—unable to plan, invest, or hire with confidence. Right now, the only sensible thing business leaders can do is sit and wait, hoping for some clarity—if not sensibility.
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Tony Redondo
Founder at Cosmos Currency Exchange
This isn’t new—Trump’s first-term tariff whiplash taught companies to hoard cash and delay big moves. Trump’s announcement of a 90-day pause on most tariffs is a screeching halt to the trade war chaos that’s tanked markets but the uncertainty it breeds is a gut punch to decision-making on spending, hiring, and planning. This pause is a double-edged sword. On one hand, it’s a lifeline—easing immediate cost pressures from the 20-50% reciprocal tariffs that hit this morning. But 90 days is a blink. Businesses can’t bet on stability when Trump hinted this is just a negotiation pitstop, not a retreat. China-facing companies, like Apple or Tesla, get no breather—125% tariffs are live now. Supply chain costs spike instantly; they’ll either eat margins or pass it on, risking sales. Meanwhile, the pause’s ambiguity—75+ countries “reaching out” to negotiate, per Trump—leaves firms guessing who’s in or out. Bespoke talks mean bespoke risks.
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Dan Gable
Founder at ShoutOut
What is slightly concerning about the Trump administration is the ability to manipulate the markets .imagine being able to make an announcement that creates an immediate 8% rise in the S&P. The cynical side of me would say that was a licence to print money. Insider dealing is illegal however manipulating the stock market seems to be fair game if you run the country. Sadly I just think most of the ‘madness’ that comes from the Trump administration is perhaps not quite as ‘mad’ as it seems for a few people in the know.