Donald Trump’s tariffs exert heavy burden on midsized US companies

Donald Trump’s tariffs are sharply escalating costs for midsize US companies, sparking fresh concern about the president’s flagship policies as he embarks on a campaign to revive Americans’ dim view of his economy. A new report from the JPMorgan Chase Institute showed tariff payments by mid-market US businesses tripled over the past year, the latest sign of domestic fallout from Trump’s bid to reshape the global trading order. The study showed midsized companies — which lack the heft of their larger counterparts to dictate terms and shift supply chains — continued to buy foreign goods in 2025 even as duty payments surged to as much as 316 per cent of their pre-election level. “That’s a big change in the cost of doing business internationally,” said Chi Mac, executive director at the JPMorgan Chase Institute and one of the authors of the report, which was released on Thursday. The study is the latest to underline the domestic repercussions of the president’s sweeping tariff regime just as the White House looks to win over Americans who have cooled on his economic agenda.