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In today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to the CEOs of Stryker, Sentry Equipment and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce CEO about how they’re handling the 90-day pause in the trade war.
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The big story: Trump may (eventually) get the lower interest rates he wants.
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The markets: Huge yesterday, not so much today.
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Analyst notes from UBS on Trump’s climbdown, Oxford Economics on GDP, Goldman Sachs on China exports, and BNP Paribas on the tariff war.
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Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Good morning. Stocks are up since the world’s two superpowers declared a temporary detente this week, agreeing to slash tariffs for 90 days. Has investor optimism trickled down (or is that up?) to the C-suite? Here’s a perspective from two leaders in different circumstances. Stryker CEO Kevin Lobo, who recently said tariffs could take $200 million off the medical technology company’s earnings this year, told me yesterday that he’s not making big moves in light of the break.
“We have looked at certain product categories and said, ‘Do we need to bring so much in right now?’ But these are temporary decisions,” said Lobo. “It’s not like I can just move products and create a new factory.” He added that while he’s “maintaining” the supply chain he has in effect today, “if we are routing product from Europe to America to then send to Latin America, we’re going to try to send it directly from Europe to Latin America,” he added. “Hopefully at the end of this 90-day pause, things will get better.”
On the other end of the scale, there’s Brian Baker, who’s CEO of Sentry Equipment, a $70 million-a-year manufacturer of sampling and process equipment based in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, who recently lost a $300,000 order from a Chinese customer because of the tariff war. “We rushed the order but they controlled the logistics and couldn’t find a place to get it out in time,” said Baker, noting that some U.S. customers have canceled orders because of the uncertainty. “The Administration keeps changing the rules,” he said. “This gives everybody a chance to catch their breath but, 90 days from now, we’ll still have uncertainty.”
Suzanne Clark, CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, says most of her members are optimistic that good times lie ahead. “Business was ready for a pro-business president,” she said. “It just gets cloudy because of the tariff uncertainty, like driving through the fog. You have to pull over until you know where you’re going.”
More news below.
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com
