A record high 32% of small business owners say changes in trade policy will have a negative effect on their business in the coming 12 months, up from 26% last quarter. That six percentage point jump is the largest quarter-to-quarter change in this latest update to the CNBC/SurveyMonkey Small Business Confidence Index, making it the main contributor to the index’s two-point drop from a score of 59 to 57.
With tensions between the U.S. and China escalating throughout the summer, a full quarter (25%) of small business owners say U.S. trade policy toward China has hurt their business in the last 12 months, though a majority (64%) say it has had no impact. Just nine percent say their business has been helped by U.S. trade policy toward China.
Read more about our polling methodology here.
Click through all the results in the interactive toplines below:
Question text:
Which one of the following issues matters MOST to you right now?
Do you approve or disapprove of the way Donald Trump is handling his job as president?In addition to yourself, how many employees work at your small business?Is your business a:Overall, would you describe current conditions for your business as good, middling or bad? In the next 12 months, do you expect your business’s revenue to increase, stay the same, or decrease?
In the next 12 months, do you expect your business’s staff of full-time employees to increase, stay the same, or decrease?In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in government regulations to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business?
In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in trade policy to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business? In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in technological innovation to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business? In the next 12 months, do you expect changes in immigration policy to have a negative effect, no effect, or a positive effect on your business?
In the next 12 months, do you expect your business’s staff of full-time employees to increase, stay the same, or decrease?
As you may know, periods of economic growth are followed by periods of recession. Do you think a recession over the next year is…
In the past 12 months, has U.S. trade policy toward China…
In the past 12 months, has U.S. trade policy toward Mexico…
In the past 12 months, has U.S. immigration policy…
Have you already or do you plan to make changes to your business as a result of President Trump’s tariffs on products imported from other countries?
How necessary is it to your business to be able to hire workers from other countries?
What will be the most important issue to you as a voter in the 2020 Presidential Election?
Have you hired or attempted to hire any new employees in the past 12 months?
In the past 12 months, has U.S. immigration policy made it easier or more difficult for your business to hire new workers, or has it had no effect?
Are you an immigrant to the United States?
Are either or both of your parents immigrants to the United States?
*businesses
