By Dan Celia for CNS News | Image from CNS
With new tariffs either imposed or threatened, there certainly has been a rising wall of worry regarding international trade. I have been (and still am) in the camp that sees the talk of tariffs as simply negotiating tactics. Sometimes, when you lay out negotiating tactics, you have to demonstrate a willingness to use them as a starting point.
Maybe that was the intent, but nobody has yet stepped up to the table or shown a willingness to do anything beyond imposing retaliatory measures. So, is it time to truly start worrying about trade problems? Will we start to see an impact on corporate America’s earnings?
Some have suggested that trade concerns, tariffs and negotiating tactics will wipe out much of the benefits we have seen from December’s tax cuts. There are arguments on both sides, but it looks as though we could be getting warnings from companies concerning third- and fourth-quarter earnings forecasts. German automaker Daimler AG, maker of the Mercedes-Benz, is one of those companies indicating they will be hurt by potential tariffs on automobiles. And this will likely hurt their earnings report, according to Bloomberg News. Continue reading…
