U.S. manufacturers are on edge as Trump’s ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs loom: ‘We need to make decisions, but the ball is constantly moving’

Workers look over paperwork and monitor a plasma torch at Central Steel Supply Company in Marlborough, Massachusetts on March 13, 2025. (Credit: Joseph Prezioso—AFP/Getty Images)

• The manufacturing sector tends to be more cyclical than other industries, so it can be particularly useful for understanding how the broader economy is changing. The Dallas Fed’s monthly survey suggests many firms are already fed up as tariff uncertainty weighs on sales and makes planning difficult. 

Businesses are on edge on the eve of “Liberation Day,” with President Donald Trump set to announce his administration’s biggest batch of tariffs yet on U.S. trading partners. For better or worse, American manufacturers will be among the companies most impacted by the ongoing shift in U.S. trade policy, and the monthly sector survey from the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas provides a glimpse into what some firms are feeling.