Apr 15, 2026
A new survey found that more than three-quarters of U.S. executives are treating tariffs as permanent, regardless of who's in the White House.
The survey, conducted by PwC last month and published this week, found that 86% of respondents — 633 American C-suite executives — "now treat tariffs as a permanent planning assumption — building them into operating models rather than waiting for relief" (1).
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"CEOs aren't planning around short-term tariffs anymore," Kristin Bohl, PwC U.S. principal in its customs and international trade practice, said in a report from Fortune (2). "They're treating tariffs as part of the new normal for doing business, with the expectation they'll be in place for years."
Changing attitudes?
While executives may be accepting that tariffs are now a part of doing business, businesses haven't accepted the levies lying down.
In President Trump's first term, trade groups spoke out against proposed tariffs, including those that represent major corporations such as ExxonMobil, Boeing and General Electric (3). And Joe Biden campaigned against the tariffs, though he ended up keeping many in place during his term (4).
The tariffs that the president enacted in April 2025, which he deemed "Liberation Day," were enacted by an executive order that invoked the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to authorize the tariffs. However, Trump's "emergency" tariffs were struck down by the Supreme Court in February.
Reuters reported at the time of the ruling that more than 1,800 businesses had filed tariff‑related lawsuits with the U.S. Court of International Trade (5). Major companies including Costco, Revlon, Kawasaki Motors, Bumble Bee Foods and EssilorLuxottica were among those that filed lawsuits (6).
The president reacted (7) to the Supreme Court decision by announcing a new, global tariff of 10% to 15%. He enacted this under Section 122 of the Trade Act of 1974, and these tariffs could expire after 150 days, or be extended by Congress (8).
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What does this mean for you?
According to Rohit Kumar, national tax office coleader at PwC, the results of the survey of U.S. executives include expectations that tariffs will continue "beyond the current administration," Business Insider reported (9).
Kumar also noted that the continuation of tariffs from Trump's first term into Biden's, coupled with lessening support for free trade agreements over the last two decades, all combine to make execs skeptical that tariffs will be rolled back "anytime soon," Business Insider reported.
This all could mean that American consumers may continue to see the impacts of tariffs reflected in their everyday lives.
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A Federal Reserve Bank of New York study (10) from February found that about 90% of the economic burden of tariffs in 2025 were shouldered by American consumers and businesses.
According to the Yale Budget Lab (YBL), before the emergency tariffs were struck down, U.S. consumers faced an overall average effective tariff rate of 14.3% (11).
Now that Trump has enacted Section 122 tariffs, the YBL says that as of April 6, consumers face an average effective tariff rate of approximately 11.8%. If the Section 122 tariffs are made permanent, the YBL predicts the end-of-2026 rate would be 12.2%.
Even after the emergency tariffs were struck down, businesses didn't have rosy news for consumers, with many saying Americans shouldn't expect lower prices.
While the C-suite executives navigate economic uncertainty fueled by the possibility of new or continuing tariffs, American consumers may have to continue weathering the uncertainty of price hikes on everything from groceries to vehicles.
Article Sources
We rely only on vetted sources and credible third-party reporting. For details, see our ethics and guidelines.
PwC (1); Fortune (2); The Economist (3); Tax Foundation (4); Reuters (5); Forbes (6); The New York Times (7); The White House (8); Business Insider (9); CBS News (10); Yale Budget Lab (11)
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Rebecca Payne has more than a decade of experience editing and producing both local and national daily newspapers. She's worked on the Toronto Star, the Globe and Mail, Metro, Canada's National Observer, the Virginian-Pilot and Daily Press.
