US Recession Talks Get Louder

A range of banks and broker/dealers have raised the specter of a U.S. recession as the April 9 tariff deadline approaches.

A range of banks and broker/dealers have raised the specter of a U.S. recession as the April 9 deadline approaches for a wide range of tariffs on foreign trade to take effect. Bank analysts and market strategists are increasing their assessment of the likelihood of increasing inflation and slower GDP growth.

Goldman Sachs, in a note sent to clients on Monday, increased the probability of a U.S. recession to 45%, up from 35% last week, which was, in turn, up from 20% before the latest round of tariff announcements. The previous Friday, JPMorganChase raised the probability of a recession to 60%, up from a previous estimate of 40%.

Nuveen Investment Management CIO Saira Malik wrote in a Monday report that the tariffs could add 2% to core personal consumption expenditures this year, as well as slashing economic growth by 1.7%.

“Unemployment, meanwhile, will likely rise 0.6% more than it would have without the tariffs,” Malik wrote.

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The S&P 500 whipsawed on Monday, falling more than 4% before regaining 6.45% from session lows and then falling another 2%, all within the first hour of trading, in part in reaction to a false headline that the White House was considering a 90-day deferral on tariffs on all countries except China.

President Donald Trump said on Monday morning that he would apply an additional 50% tariff on Chinese imports if that country did not remove its own 34% reciprocal tariffs on U.S. imports by tomorrow. Such a levy would bring the total tariff rate on China to 104%.

The KBW Nasdaq Bank Index, which tracks the performance of U.S. listed bank stocks, fell nearly 16% since the announcement of reciprocal tariffs on U.S. trading partners.

Analysts continue to anticipate further negative consequences.

“Should these measures remain in place for a significant period of time, they could potentially shave 1 – 1.5 percentage points from growth this year—meaningfully raising recession risks—while adding a broadly similar amount to core PCE inflation,” wrote Brett Ryan, a senior U.S. economist at Deutsche Bank, in a note to clients.

Real U.S. gross domestic product grew 2.8% in 2024, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. The increase in real GDP in 2024 reflected increases in consumer spending, investment, government spending, exports and imports.

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