European and United Kingdom companies had the pain of Donald Trump’s trade war

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European and United Kingdom companies are taking into account the cost of the United States Trade War, and executives exposed the success of consumers’ confidence, threats to supply chains and the destabilizing effect of prolonged uncertainty by rates level.

Nestlé, the world’s largest food company, Mercedes-Benz and the United Kingdom Consumer Group Unilever are among a wave of companies that have put investors in the notice of how business conditions have been changed since Donald Trump announced a blitz of rates Against the commercial partners of America last month.

In the first set of quarterly results since the “Liberation Day” event of the United States President, companies exposed multiprongitud challenges, including a slowdown in the United States, an important market and fading the hopes of a robust economic rebound in the Euro area.

Jesper Brodin, Ingka Chief, who operates the vast majority of Ikea stores, said that one of the largest dilemmas was how to respond to the speed at which the White House announced policies with potentially wide implications for supply chains and price strategies.

“I remember the days when the politicians were slow and the companies were quick and there is no way that Ikea can adapt their footprint, a strategy in this type of time horizon,” Brodin told The Financial Times, who added that the group usually has at least one ten -year view when deciding on the location of a plant.

The administration’s trade policy, which Trump has said will provide investments, plants and jobs in America, has dominated the quarterly results of European and the United Kingdom.

In April, the rates were mentioned 223 times on calls for companies in the Benchmark Stoxx Europe 600, which includes many in London, according to Fatset data, compared to March 115.

The sharp increase reflects the impact of the “Liberation Day” event on April 2, when Trump imposed an initial rate of 10 percent on commercial members and the so -called higher reciprocal rates in dozens of countries. Later, the White House delayed the imposition of the highest duties for 90 days to allow conversations about commercial offers.

With reference rates that only come into force on April 5, the number of companies that quantify the cost of the functions has been limited.

But many executives argued that the uncertainty prolonged by the final rate of the so -called reciprocal rates and the final form of commercial offers was detrimental, and affected their ability to plan and make financial forecasts.

“I think the uncertainties created by economic policies, commercial wars and the evolution of financial markets have increased concerns and have created more uncertainty,” said Laurent Freixe, CEO of Nestlé.

Talks between the EU and the United States have advanced little, with Brussels imposing retaliation rates on July 8 in the absence of a trade agreement. The United Kingdom and the United States remain in conversations about an agreement.

Faced with the lack of clarity, Stellalantis, owner of the Fiat and Chrysler brands, Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Cars are among the companies that have scrapped their forecasts.

“Begin to see companies that make declarations on low visibility and without the desire to make long -term plans,” said Fabiana Fedeli, head of M&G Investments portfolio.

Investors have not yet heard of many of the 517 Stoxx 600 companies that report quarterly results, but they have already been told the creepy effect that the rates have had on consumer confidence and preparation.

Reckitt, the UK manufacturer of Strepsils and Estrals, said that the market volatility that followed the launch of the rates could affect the sale of several dollars of his cleaning product business.

Freixe de Nestlé told the analysts that the year began with the consumers that “they were not optimistic, to say -less”, and that the rates had worsened the image.

Unilever, one of the biggest companies in the FTSE 100, highlighted the potential impact of the significant changes in coins from the rates, with the acting financial manager Srinivas Phatak who described the sharp fall of the dollar against the Euro in weeks as “unprecedented”.

Global stocks have met last week with signs that the United States and China could begin to look for trade, which has taken Washington and Beijing imposing punitive rates.

Executives used earnings calls to warn that there was a real clarity about trade policy so that companies could resume important decisions.

The United Kingdom Retail of the United Kingdom Primark, which plans to double their number of North -American stores up to 60 years for next year, could move some manufacture of China, according to George Weston, CEO of the parent company associated with British Foods, the Primark’s parent company.

But he added: “We will only adapt the supply chains when we have a little more certainty about the long -term position of the different supply markets with respect to the United States market.”

Additional Reports of Kana Inagaki and Emily Herbert in London