Business Roundtable survey of chief executives finds declining confidence for sixth quarter in a row Lauren Fedor in Washington and Andrew Edgecliffe-johnson in New York
Business confidence among top US chief executives fell for the sixth quarter in a row, as geopolitical uncertainty, the Us-china trade war and slowing global economic growth continued to bite, according to a survey published on Wednesday.
The Business Roundtable, a group of leading US chief executives from nearly 200 companies, said its economic outlook index fell 10.3 points in the third quarter, to a reading of 79.2. While that was significantly above the 50-point benchmark that indicates growth, all three components of the index — plans for hiring, plans for capital investment and expectations for sales — fell during the quarter.
Joshua Bolten, president and chief executive of the Business Roundtable, said US businesses “now have their foot poised above the brake, and they’re tapping the brake periodically”.
“Uncertainty is preventing the full potential of the economy from being unleashed, limiting growth and investment here in the US,” he said, adding that “opening markets and promoting rules-based trade remains vital to US economic prosperity”.
“Congress and the [Trump] administration have the immediate opportunity to come together and provide stability and growth to our economy by enacting the Us-mexico-canada Agreement.”
Senior White House officials and Republican lawmakers are pushing for a quick vote on USMCA, which was struck last year as a replacement for the Clinton-era Nafta deal. However, many Democrats are sceptical of the agreement, and have demanded changes to its provisions on labour and environmental standards, drug prices and enforcement.
The stand-off has cast a shadow over US president Donald Trump’s trade agenda as the trade war with China escalates. Mr Trump ramped up the trade war earlier this month with a fresh round of 15 per cent tariffs on a further $112bn of imports from China.
