CNBC CFO Survey: Top Business Risks and U.S. Economy Outlook

Top Business Risks Identified by CFOs

• 🎯 U.S. trade policy was cited as the biggest risk to businesses in the latest CNBC CFO Council survey.
• ⚠️ Inflation was the second-highest concern, followed by consumer demand as the third major risk.

Impact of Tariffs

• ❓ A significant majority of CFOs (55%) expressed uncertainty about the impact of tariffs due to the unpredictability of which ones will remain in place.
• 📉 25% of CFOs believe tariffs will not benefit the U.S. economy.
• 🤔 Only 20% somewhat agreed that tariffs would help the U.S. economy, with no CFOs strongly agreeing.
• 📈 60% of CFOs somewhat agreed that tariffs could lead to an acceleration of inflation.

Federal Reserve and Inflation Target

• 👍 CFOs generally gave the Federal Reserve high marks for handling rising prices, with 15% calling the job excellent and 45% calling it good.
• 🎯 However, skepticism exists regarding the Fed's 2% inflation target, with about two-thirds of CFOs expecting it to be reached in 2027 or later.
• 🤷 A quarter of CFOs were unsure if or when the 2% target would be achieved.

Economic Outlook and Uncertainty

• 📉 A significant theme throughout the survey was uncertainty, particularly around trade policy and tariffs, making investment difficult.
• 😟 Approximately three-quarters of CFOs expressed pessimism about the overall outlook for the U.S. economy.