As Elon Musk reveals he tried to convince President Donald Trump not to implement sweeping tariffs, U.S. manufacturers are linking the levies with industry troubles.
“The president has made it clear he loves tariffs,” Musk said in the interview. “I’ve tried to dissuade him from this point of view, but unsuccessfully.”
“Would you want tariffs between you and everyone else at an individual level? That would make life very difficult,” he continued. “Would you want tariffs between each city? No, that would be very annoying. Would you want tariffs between each state within the United States? No, that would be disastrous for the economy. So then, why do you want tariffs between countries?”
The White House didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.
“We are starting to institute more permanent changes due to the tariff environment,” one survey respondent in the transportation equipment industry said, per the report. “This includes reduction of staff, new guidance to shareholders, and development of additional offshore manufacturing that would have otherwise been for U.S. export.”
Ullrich also noted trade uncertainty more broadly forces companies to think less about hiring and more about sourcing decisions and pricing.
“It is striking how soft manufacturing has been because, in theory, you put tariffs in place to protect domestic manufacturing, so that domestic manufacturing employment grows,” Ullrich said. “And we have seen the opposite of that.”
“Going into 2026, we expect to see big changes with cash flow and employee headcount,” one ISM survey respondent said. “The company has sold off a big part of the business that generated free cash while offering voluntary severance packages to anyone.”
