89% of companies expect shortages, delays from tariffs

• Mid-size companies that sell goods overwhelmingly say tariffs will cause delays or shortages of their products.
• Close to half of the companies say they will raise prices.
• Still, one positive result of tariffs could be more investment in local economies.

Business leaders say Americans should brace for shortages and more expensive products because of tariffs.

Some 89% of companies selling goods expect tariffs to cause delays or shortages as of March, up from 80% in February, according to a survey by PYMNTS Intelligence.

And 42% of survey respondents said they would increase prices of goods or services in response to tariffs and 32% said there would be potential layoffs or reduced hiring.

The survey, conducted from March 17 to March 27, provides one of the latest snapshots yet of how businesses are responding to tariffs.

It polled heads of payments among businesses with $100 million to $1 billion in revenue, which are considered mid sized.

In response to tariffs, 63% of respondents said they would negotiate with suppliers, followed by replacing current suppliers with domestic ones (53%) and expand into new markets (47%).

The least popular response was 16% of respondents saying they would have to discontinue products affected by tariffs.

Still, there were some positive impacts that survey respondents cited.

Some 63% said tariffs would provide an opportunity to support the local economy, followed by enhanced supply chain resilience (53%) and more resources to invest in innovation (16%).