Tariffs seen as durable
A PwC‑backed survey found most CEOs now expect U.S. import tariffs to persist beyond the current administration, signaling businesses are planning for a higher‑cost trade environment. (fortune.com). Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent added that tariffs on other countries could be restored to previous levels by July, underscoring the near‑term policy risk firms are weighing. (startupfortune.com)
Corporate America is starting to budget for tariffs as a lasting cost, not a temporary policy swing. In a PwC survey of 633 United States executives conducted in March, 86% said they now treat tariffs as a permanent planning assumption. (finance.yahoo.com) That view hardened even after a court setback for the White House’s tariff program. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on April 14 that the administration could restore tariff rates to previous levels by the beginning of July through new Section 301 trade cases. (finance.yahoo.com) The immediate trigger was a February 20 White House order ending several tariff actions that had been imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act, or IEEPA. The order said those additional duties “shall no longer be in effect” and should stop being collected as soon as practicable. (whitehouse.gov) Some tariffs never went away. Duties imposed under Section 301 on goods from China were still listed by the United States International Trade Commission as of February 25, 2026, and PwC said executives also expect broader tariff policy to keep shifting rather than disappear. (hts.usitc.gov) The administration is also building a new legal path for more tariffs. The Office of the United States Trade Representative opened Section 301 investigations on March 11 into structural excess manufacturing capacity in economies including China, the European Union, Japan, India, Mexico, Vietnam, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Singapore, Switzerland, Norway, and Bangladesh. (federalregister.gov) Those investigations are on a near-term clock. The Trade Representative set April 15 for written comments and May 5 through May 8 for public hearings at the United States International Trade Commission. (federalregister.gov) The White House had already laid out the broader policy last year. A February 13, 2025 memorandum ordered agencies to design a “Fair and Reciprocal Plan” to calculate reciprocal tariff levels for trading partners across the board. (federalregister.gov) PwC’s wider 2026 chief executive survey shows why tariff risk is landing in a tougher business climate. Only 30% of chief executives worldwide said they were confident about revenue growth over the next 12 months, down from 38% in 2025 and 56% in 2022. (pwc.com) For importers, that leaves two timelines running at once: refund claims on canceled duties and possible new tariffs by July. For chief executives setting prices and supply chains now, the working assumption is no longer that tariffs will fade with one court ruling or one presidency. (finance.yahoo.com)
