Deborah Brennan at CalMatters:
Confusion caused by President Donald Trump’s tariffs is clouding the Inland Empire’s economic forecast, as warehouses and other businesses face a looming trade war.
The Inland Empire Economic Partnership recently released its economic outlook showing consumer pessimism about Trump’s vacillating economic policies. The consumer sentiment index plunged in February.
“Certainly the tariffs can and probably will have a negative effect on the economy of the Inland Empire,” said Paul Granillo, CEO of the Inland Empire Economic Partnership. “Those are prices that are passed onto the consumer and so people buy less … If the tariffs cause a trade war and there’s a dip in exports from China or other places, that will affect the Inland Empire.”
The report offered some good news, though: its authors don’t expect a recession this year.
“There are currently no alarm bells from leading economic indicators,” wrote Manfred Keil, Robert Kleinhenz, and Kenneth P. Miller, researchers with Claremont McKenna College who authored the report.