As the Trump administration continues to push a broad tariff policy, global financial market turmoil intensifies, escalating concerns among company executives about the direction of the policy. Although most CEOs previously avoided publicly criticizing the government to avert political risks, the recent sharp stock market downturn seems to be causing them to reconsider whether remaining silent is still the best choice.
At a recent CEO summit at Yale University, an impromptu survey showed that 44% of business leaders believe they should speak out if the stock market falls by 20%, while 22% choose a 30% decline as the threshold, another 10% think it should wait until a 50% plunge, and 24% say it is beyond their scope of responsibility.
Although the survey did not specify the starting point for calculating losses, according to The Wall Street Journal, several market indicators are already near or have exceeded a 20% decline. For instance, the Nasdaq and Russell 2000 indexes have both fallen more than 20% from their 52-week highs, entering a technical bear market; the S&P 500 Index has dropped 17%, and the Dow Jones Index is down by 15%. Although the declines are relatively small compared to the time of Trump's inauguration or the launch of the investigation, the sell-off in just the two days following "release day" wiped out $6 trillion in market value, the worst market crash since the early days of COVID-19 in 2020.
According to insiders, some company executives have privately expressed concerns about the tariff policy in closed-door meetings with the White House, but still choose to remain silent in public to avoid becoming targets of public criticism.
Organizers of the meeting at Yale School of Management reveal that many CEOs prefer to voice opposition to policy pressure through industry associations or collective efforts rather than individually. They fear "becoming targets once they stand out."
Several company directors also stated that, compared to public protests, a more effective strategy is to privately lobby Trump and his advisors, stressing that tariffs will directly affect his constituents' interests, including rising prices and unemployment risks.
Meanwhile, the Business Roundtable released a statement last Wednesday, expressing strong concerns over the blanket 10%-50% tariffs while supporting the goal of fair trade, believing that such measures could severely harm American manufacturing, worker families, and exporters.
More notably, there are increasing dissenting voices within the American business community. According to media reports, a group of well-known figures in the tech and financial sectors are planning to visit Mar-a-Lago to directly present the risks of the tariff policy to Trump, attempting to persuade him to reconsider the policy path by appealing to "common sense."
There are also related actions on social media. A senior executive of a tech giant publicly expressed the desire to establish a "zero tariff zone" between the US and Europe, and mockingly questioned the expertise and practical ability of one of the key White House advisors behind the policy on the internet.
Despite the rising voices in the business community, the US Treasury Department remains relatively calm about the market turmoil. In an interview, the Treasury Secretary emphasized that the market is still "running smoothly," and the stock market sell-off is just a short-term reaction, asserting that the US economy will not fall into recession because of it.
However, in the eyes of the business community and market participants, the future direction of the tariff policy may become the biggest variable for market confidence in the coming period.
