ICC Says Businesses Pause Plans Amid Continued Tariff Uncertainty

Businesses are reportedly still facing uncertainty around U.S. trade policy, even after the Thursday (July 31) announcement of higher tariffs by President Donald Trump.

The announcement lacked detail and left undecided some issues around key sectors, talks with China and the legal status of the new duties, Andrew Wilson, deputy secretary-general of the International Chamber of Commerce, told The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in an interview posted Friday (Aug. 1).

The lack of clarity has led businesses around the world to pause decisions on investment and hiring as they seek more information, according to the report.

“Last night’s announcement provides confirmation that the administration is set on applying generally higher tariff rates,” Wilson said, per the report. “But at a more practical level, we still see companies struggling to understand how the country-specific rates will apply in practice.”

Trump signed an executive order Thursday modifying the reciprocal tariff rates for some countries, saying he aims to address U.S. trade deficits and secure trade relationships that benefit American workers and manufacturers.

“President Trump’s tariff policies have generated significant investment into the United States, strengthening the U.S. economy while addressing unfair trade practices that have disadvantaged American workers for decades,” the White House said in a fact sheet.

PYMNTS Intelligence found that among services firms, perceived uncertainty has dropped to its lowest point in nearly a year. This was revealed in data from an upcoming edition of the 2025 Certainty Project.

An earlier edition of the Certainty Project, “What Uncertainty Means: U.S. Goods Firms Retool Product Plans Amid Tariffs,” found that 57% of product leaders reported having adjusted their product lines in response to tariffs.

It also found that 52% of companies had accelerated artificial intelligence adoption as part of their mitigation strategy, using the technology for everything from demand forecasting to dynamic pricing models that account for fluctuating inputs costs under changing tariff schedules.

Reuters reported Thursday that at least 92 of the 300 companies monitored by its tariffs tracker have raised prices in response to ongoing U.S. tariffs. The differing approaches among these companies show an increasing divide about how much they think they can pass on to shoppers without impacting sales, according to the report.