BlackRock CEO Larry Fink warned Monday that the economy is “weakening as we speak,” amid widespread turmoil in the markets driven by the Trump administration’s sweeping new tariffs.
“The economy is weakening as we speak,” Fink said at the Economic Club of New York. “The need for the administration to focus on these pro-growth agendas, which was much of what the president campaigned on, we have to get that going.”
“The president has been focusing on right now areas that, in my mind, in the short run, are very inflationary and destabilizing the economy,” he added.
President Trump’s newly announced tariffs have sent markets reeling. Stocks plunged for a third day in a row Monday morning, with the S&P 500 briefly entering bear market territory, dropping 20 percent from its previous peak.
The administration unveiled a broad slate of “reciprocal” tariffs last week, including a 10 percent baseline tariff on all U.S. imports and higher tariffs on dozens of other countries considered the “worst offenders” on trade.
“Most CEOs I talk to would say we are probably in a recession right now,” Fink said Monday.
“I would say in the long run, this is more of a buying opportunity than it is a selling opportunity,” he added. “That doesn’t mean we can’t fall another 20 percent from here, too.”
Trump’s recent trade moves have increased recession fears. Goldman Sachs analysts raised the odds of a recession to 45 percent in a new report Sunday, just one week after forecasting the probability of a recession at 35 percent.
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon also warned Monday in his annual letter to shareholders that the president’s tariffs “will likely increase inflation and are causing many to consider a greater probability of a recession.”
“Whether or not the menu of tariffs causes a recession remains in question, but it will slow down growth,” he added.