Britain’s top companies were already tightening their belts in anticipation of a worsening global economic outlook — even before President Trump’s tariff U-turns sent markets into a tailspin.
A new Deloitte survey of FTSE 350 finance chiefs, carried out at the end of March, shows that concern about geopolitical risk was at its highest level since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Fears about the health of the US economy — still the largest in the world — were also elevated.
Even ahead of Trump’s formal tariff announcement, UK companies had begun to slash costs at an unprecedented pace outside of pandemic conditions, the report found.
“It is unsurprising that chief financial officers reported elevated levels of uncertainty,” said Amanda Tickel, head of tax and trade policy at Deloitte UK. “Periods of trade uncertainty tend to result in a prolonged squeeze on investment.”
Tickel added that while some companies are preparing contingency plans, few are likely to restructure global supply chains or relocate production until there’s greater clarity on the outcome of ongoing trade negotiations.
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