Bad mood in the USA
Consumer punishes Trump
Updated on March 15th, 2025 – 05:37 a.m.Reading time: 2 min.
According to the stock exchange courses, the mood among consumers in the basement is also in the basement. A survey shows that Trump’s trade policy is the cause.
US President Donald Trump’s unpredictable customs policy is reflected in the mood of consumers in the United States. According to the latest consumer survey by the University of Michigan, which was published on Friday, the Americans are concerned about President Donald Trump’s escalating trade dispute with neighboring countries, China and the EU.
Consumer mood fell 11 percent this month to a value of 57.9 percent, as a preliminary survey showed, and has thus reached the lowest level since November 2022 (previous month: 64.7 percent). This is a significant decline compared to December after the US presidential election when the mood had increased to the highest level in months.
Trump had put tariffs of 25 percent against Canada and Mexico, both countries reacted with similar measures. China and the EU also put tariffs into force after Trump imposed punitive tariffs. On the one hand, the tariffs make it more difficult to export goods. On the other hand, goods become more expensive when importing. This in turn is likely to lead to higher prices in the USA. Experts are already warning of higher inflation.
“In view of the tightening of the customs policy of President Donald Trump, consumers throughout the political spectrum are increasingly concerned that the additional tariffs ultimately lead to higher costs,” said Joanne HSU, head of the survey of the Michigan University. “Inflation has cooled down last month, but every persistent increase in price pressure could cause households to limit their purchases.” Political uncertainty makes planning difficult for consumers.
The inflation expectations of consumers rose sharply in the short perspective. In the sight of one year, they climbed from 4.3 percent in the previous month to 4.9 percent. This has been the highest value since 2022. Long -term expectations increased from 3.5 percent to 3.9 percent.
The indicator of the University of Michigan measures the buying behavior of US consumers. It is based on a telephone survey of around 500 households. The financial and economic situation assessment as well as the corresponding expectations are requested.
There was a slight recovery on the US exchanges on Friday. The latest price losses apparently encouraged investors to start the US shares. The DOW-Jones index of the default values wrote 1.6 percent higher on Friday at 41,448 points. The wider S&P 500 won two percent to 5,631 points. The index of the Nasdaq technology agency climbed by 2.5 percent to 17,728.
