The News
After a sharp stock market sell-off in recent days, driven by growing concerns about US President Donald Trump’s trade war, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said CEOs need “a measure of predictability” to plan for the effects of the administration’s economic policy.
The “on-again, off-again tariff conversation” is creating “a level of instability that I think has very real market implications,” Moore told Semafor’s Ben Smith on Wednesday at the BlackRock National Retirement Summit in Washington, DC. “I think the fear is real. I don’t think this is an exaggeration we are seeing or an over-indexing, either, from the markets or from CEOs.”
Uncertainties surrounding the administration’s fast-changing tariff policies have driven down US stocks from record highs. The S&P 500 has fallen 9% from its February peak, and the Nasdaq 100 dropped 12%, wiping out roughly $4 trillion in value.
The administration has argued the market upheaval is temporary and will quickly ease as the upsides of Trump’s tariffs emerge. “I just don’t know what a temporary adjustment means, at a time when people are just looking for some kind of direction and stability as to what does success look like. Because I do not think that has been laid out,” Moore said.
Moore argued that it’s increasingly difficult for business leaders to plan for future purchases, given the uncertainty surrounding which products will face steep tariffs, and for pension funds to identify what industries represent stable, safe investments.