In all consumers, corporate committees and Wall Street, the feeling of economic optimism, which was accompanied by the beginning of the second Trump government, quickly went after the effects of tariffs and a potential recession. After the new quarterly survey of Surveymonkey Small Business, Main Street has been similar to a similar shift.
Only 30% of the small business owners stated that they would evaluate the current state of the economy as excellent or good, compared to 70% that according to CNBC | Surveymonkey data is fair or bad. This corresponds to an assessment of 39%, which is rated as excellent or good or good in the first quarter of the economy of the economy.
Seventy percent of small business owners stated that the country was heading for a recession, a feeling that is shared in the entire political gait – almost all democratic respondents predict a recession, while almost half of Republicans (47%) also did.
In addition, 51% of those surveyed stated that the way Donald Trump did his job as President. This is compared to 39% in his last quarter as president in 2020.
The trust of the small companies that were pursued by the survey is now lower than at all times, except in the worst quarter of the Covid crisis and in the last quarter of its presidency (which was more reflected in the choice and expectations of biden in Main Street on the business policy of the Democratic Party).
The CNBC/Surveymonkey survey was carried out between April 21 and 25, 2025 under a national sample of 2,257 small business owners.
Large companies continue to express this profit season with regard to the effects that the proposed tariffs would have on consumers. It was only last week that Pandora warned the jewelry brand of considerable price increases in the affordable jewelry industry. Mattel said it could increase the prices for toys such as barbies and hot bikes. And Microsoft announced price increases for Xbox consoles and controllers.
Small companies predict a similar tariffs. Fifty percent of the respondents stated that changes in trade policy would have a negative impact on their business in the next 12 months, compared to 27%that it will have no effect, and 21%that it will have a positive effect.
A total of 66% of the small business owners were either affected or expected by tariffs. While inflation (24%) and the demand from consumers (18%) remain the risks listed by small entrepreneurs, tariffs rose to 17%compared to 10%in the last quarter.
Suzanne Clark, CEO of the US trade chamber, told Megan Cassella from CNBC in the early this month that the Business Lobbying Group “was flooded by small corporate inquiries to facilitate potential tariffs.
The US Chamber of Commerce has addressed the Trump White House to automatically increase tariffs for all importers in small companies, as well as other efforts, which in their opinion would avoid “irreparable damage” for small companies.
“We are deeply concerned that many small companies, even if it only takes weeks or months to achieve agreements, have irreparable damage,” Clark wrote in a letter that was sent to Finance Minister Scott Bessent, Commercial Secretary Howard Lutnick and the US sales representative Jamieson Greer on April 30.
“The chamber requests that the administration take immediate measures to save America's small companies and ward off a recession,” she wrote.
So far, the White House has not acted on these inquiries, and the continuing uncertainty about the potential tariffs and its effects has increased pessimism about the economy and the growing fear of a potential recession.
Many small companies are dependent on production in China, which are now subject to 145% tariffs, which has caused many to pause orders from Chinese factories.
On Friday, President Trump said in a social post of truth that he was ready to reduce the tariffs to China to 80% and teased that many other trade agreements were coming. “Lots of trade transactions in the hopper, all the best (great!)!” Trump wrote.
The entire trade uncertainty leads to additional financial burdens for small business owners, both for your companies and for your own wallets. Sixty percent of the respondents stated that they are either very or something stressed about their companies' finances, while 63% said they were very stressed or a little stressed about their own finances. While the inflation all around the top contribution by stress, the tariffs took second place.
The chairman of FED, Jerome Powell, spoke on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve stable to keep interest rates that the proposed tariffs could lead to a slowdown of economic growth and possibly an increase in long -term inflation.
“If the announced increase in the announced tariffs are maintained, they will probably lead to an increase in inflation, slowing down the economic growth and an increase in unemployment. The effects on inflation could be short -lived. It is also possible that the inflation effects could be more violent instead,” said Powell.
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