Trump tariffs won’t lead supply chains back to U.S., companies will go low-tariff globe-hopping: CNBC survey
PUBLISHED MON, APR 14 202512:51 PM EDTUPDATED THU, APR 17 20259:05 AM EDT
Lori Ann LaRocco@LORIANNLAROCCO
WATCH LIVE
KEY POINTS
- Most companies that responded to a new CNBC Supply Chain Survey said high costs are the biggest headwind in moving manufacturing back to the U.S., and that if they did so, they would favor automation over workers.
- Nearly half said reshoring would more than double costs, and a majority indicated that President Donald Trump’s trade war is likely to kick off a global search for low-tariff regimes.
- A majority of respondents said that, in the near term, price hikes are coming and consumer demand will decline. Recession is the base case for 63% of respondents.
A worker rests in a factory making steel bike rims for export to the U.S. in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province Friday, April 11, 2025.
Feature China | Future Publishing | Getty Images
If China is going to lose some manufacturing as a result of
President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the U.S. manufacturing sector won’t be the main beneficiary, according to a new CNBC Supply Chain Survey.
The Trump administration says a reshoring boom is coming, but most companies that responded to the survey told CNBC that bringing back supply chains could as much as double their costs and that instead a search for low-tariff regimes around the world will commence.
