Bank of America’s CEO sees Trump’s tariffs starting to de-escalate

[NEW YORK] Bank of America chief executive officer Brian Moynihan said that he expects the Trump administration to de-escalate trade tensions next year after tariffs sent shockwaves through the US economy in 2025.

Moynihan said in an interview taped earlier in December and aired on Sunday (Dec 28) on CBS News’ Face the Nation that Bank of America now sees “de-escalation, not escalation”, with an average of 15 per cent tariffs, and higher rates for countries that won’t commit to US purchases or lowering non-tariff barriers.

“To go from a 10 per cent across-the-board to 15 per cent for the broad base of countries – not a huge impact,” Moynihan said. “And that’s where our team says it’s starting to de-escalate.”

In April, Trump announced a baseline rate of 10 per cent tariffs on all exporters to the US. He unveiled a slew of new tariffs in July that were expected to push the average rate to 15.2 per cent for major trading partners if implemented as announced. Bloomberg Economics estimated the average US tariff rate rose to 14 from 2 per cent after Trump returned to the White House.

China is a “different question”, as are North American trading partners with a review of the US-Mexico-Canada agreement slated for next year, Moynihan added. “But broadly in the world, you can see sort of the endpoint here,” he said.

Higher tariffs and uncertainty over trade policy hit small businesses in the second quarter of the year, he said, though some relief came as rates eased. Moynihan said that tariffs are a lesser concern for small businesses right now than uncertainties over the availability of labour, as some Trump administration immigration policies “haven’t settled in yet”. BLOOMBERG