Special Questions

Texas Business Outlook Surveys

Data were collected August 12-20, and 81 Texas manufacturers responded to the survey.

NOTES: 81 responses. In Feb. 2023, the question asked about 2023 versus 2022.

NOTE: 81 responses.

NOTES: 81 responses. We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018, June 2019 and Dec. 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 61 responses. This question was only posed to those answering yes to question 3, but the results shown are calculated as the share of all firms, where those answering no to question 3 are included under “No impact.” We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018 and June 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 57 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Yes, negative impact” to question 3. We asked a similar question in June 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 34 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Passing cost increases through to customers” to question 3b. We asked a similar question in April 2025.

NOTES: 50 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Passing cost increases through to customers” as an action taken/planned in question 3b.

NOTES: 14 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “No” to question 3. We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018, June 2019 and Dec. 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Texas Business Outlook Surveys

Data were collected August 12-20, and 250 Texas business executives responded to the survey.

NOTES: 247 responses. In Feb. 2023, the question asked about 2023 versus 2022.

NOTE: 248 responses.

NOTES: 248 responses. We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018, June 2019 and Dec. 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 99 responses. This question was only posed to those answering yes to question 3, but the results shown are calculated as the share of all firms, where those answering no to question 3 are included under “No impact.” We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018 and June 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 97 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Yes, negative impact” to question 3. We asked a similar question in June 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 33 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Passing cost increases through to customers” to question 3b. We asked a similar question in April 2025.

NOTES: 59 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Passing cost increases through to customers” as an action taken/planned in question 3b.

NOTES: 110 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “No” to question 3. We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018, June 2019 and Dec. 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Texas Business Outlook Surveys

Data were collected August 12-20, and 43 Texas business executives responded to the survey.

NOTES: 42 responses. In Feb. 2023, the question asked about 2023 versus 2022.

NOTE: 43 responses.

NOTES: 43 responses. We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018, June 2019 and Dec. 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 27 responses. This question was only posed to those answering yes to question 3, but the results shown are calculated as the share of all firms, where those answering no to question 3 are included under “No impact.” We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018 and June 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 26 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Yes, negative impact” to question 3. We asked a similar question in June 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

NOTES: 13 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Passing cost increases through to customers” to question 3b. We asked a similar question in April 2025.

NOTES: 22 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “Passing cost increases through to customers” as an action taken/planned in question 3b.

NOTES: 10 responses. This question was only posed to those answering “No” to question 3. We asked a similar question in April 2018, Sept. 2018, June 2019 and Dec. 2019 after tariffs were implemented by the first Trump administration and then most recently in April 2025.

Survey respondents were given the opportunity to also provide comments, which can be found in the Comments tab above.

Special Questions Comments

Survey participants are given the opportunity to submit comments. Some comments have been edited for grammar and clarity.

• We are the 16th largest exporter in the U.S., and domestic consumption is not supporting our businesses now that external demand due to tariffs is dead in the water. This is not returning domestic manufacturing when we went to war outside of the trade war with China. China and other countries that are passing through Chinese goods should be the focus, and we need to join forces with our allies, not attack them.

• We bill tariffs to customers separately to keep our prices lower, which effectively passes on tariff risk to the customer because our business is contract manufacturing, and we build to print from the customer design. This minimizes our direct risk from tariffs, but we have indirect risk as the customer may decide not to build if tariffs are too high and other sourcing cannot be found.

• We build products in the U.S.

• In our manufacturing world, tariffs are resulting in some positive impacts and some negative impacts. I think it is too early to tell the net result; however we think we will all adjust to that new normal once it is more stable.

• We are fortunate that we are able to adequately source our components domestically.

• As a component manufacturer and with sprockets being the primary component, President Trump would have to put a 500 percent tariff on China before we would see any benefit. The market is flooded with Chinese sprockets, and the disparity is so monumental, we discontinued making or trying to acquire any of that type of work a long time ago and instead stick with special-order items where we can be competitive. The days of stocking standard sizes for agriculture or other industries has been gone for 30 years now, and short of shutting China completely off, will never return.
• Tariffs, subsidies and price controls distort and cripple a free market. When the market picks winners and losers, the economy benefits. When the government picks winners, then only a few benefit in the short term. These same companies have no incentive to innovate, so they ultimately suffer.

• Tariffs get passed through when we get charged. Whatever we paid, divided by the number of finished goods that tariffed material supported, is what consumers pay. It's a separate line item on the sales invoice because it needs to be clear that we can't control or impact these tariffs in any way. We cannot move operations to another country because other countries don't have the fine manufacturing capability to build the raw inputs to our finished goods. (We assemble in the U.S.)

• We are just starting to see some tariff surcharges on a few supplies. We hope it doesn't snowball further.

• Tariff recovery charges are a huge pain to track and try to pass through. We have certain materials that are just not available in the U.S., and I doubt manufacturers will be willing to invest the huge monies required [to produce domestically] when the next administration may very well remove the tariffs in three years. So, for now, we are part of the inflationary push that is coming from these tariffs.
• The lack of standing firm on the higher tariff percentages has made life difficult. We wish the administration had announced a reasonable new tariff and then held firm. Customers that were headed domestically from China have now backed off plans due to caving in on the tariff percentage.

• Tariffs have had a direct impact on hiring. Clients are reallocating workload to existing employees to try to reduce wages/labor costs to offset tariffs. We've seen this with manufacturing clients, electronic distribution companies and other client companies.
• Investment in industrial commercial real estate is slow due to uncertainty about tariff impacts between US and Mexico. We are based in El Paso, which relies heavily on border commerce with Ciudad Juárez and Chihuahua.
• We have no idea when to or how much to adjust pricing due to the ever-changing tariff landscape.
• Tariffs are inflationary, but it takes several months for them to wind through the system.
• The lack of clarity is having a negative impact on business investment.
• We have not seen any impact on most imported parts yet. Vehicle battery prices have already increased.

• The biggest impact for us is likely to be tied to consumer confidence levels. In high-end cosmetic dentistry, most consumers need to borrow to pay for services, so their confidence in the future of the economy is important.

• There is an indirect impact on our business due to general feelings of uncertainty by many clients. Uncertainty has a dampening effect on the willingness of many to make major decisions, commercial real estate investment, debt capital structure, etc. As the 10-year Treasury yield has drifted downward recently and long-term commercial mortgage loan interest rates being quoted by lenders have followed suit, we have seen a slight increase in chatter from our clients, but not a broad change in attitude so far.
• We are a transaction-based business. As such, the uncertainties due to tariffs have slowed the volume of transactions, negatively impacting our business.

• We feel the impact of tariffs and tariff uncertainty on input and construction costs. The larger impact is the weight on the overall economy and increased risk of recession.

• From a construction pricing standpoint, it is not clear to me what is tariff vs. inflation. As costs go up to deliver projects, it will slow down public investment or hinder implementation, which would negatively impact us as a professional services/design firm.
• Tariffs do not seem to be a problem, but we are too far down the supply chain to recognize the impact as of now.
• We are an engineering consulting firm that is not directly affected by tariffs. However, our clients (commercial real estate developers and owner/occupiers) are being directly affected by increases in the costs of construction materials and delays in the procurement pipeline due to uncertainty in tariff policy.
• We're waiting for client confidence to go up.
• My consulting business is at the mercy of companies investing in plants and equipment. Anything that reduces investment (such as tariffs) reduces my business. The tariff uncertainty has muddied the decision-making process at most companies and business. "Wait and see" seems to be the norm.
• We may see a slight negative impact in business due to higher tariffs, but the U.S.A. and global economies are on a decent growth path in our assessment, and we have seen increases in sales in the U.S.A. and overseas.
• As far as we can tell, cloud software services (we sell timesheet software) are not subject to tariff regimes.
• We can't say the evolving trade policy is impacting our business as we had 2025 revenue mostly secured; however, our business supports nonprofits, and the abilities of nonprofit leaders to raise critical dollars to further missions have been impacted. Our nonprofit partners need us but can't pay if the funding isn't there.
• Tariffs are driving up the cost of goods, which in turn has my employees looking for more pay.
• We think the impact of tariffs on the average consumer is just beginning, which means consumer spending will start to dip, and that will impact our clients’ marketing budgets and, ultimately, our revenue.

• We sense a lot of uncertainty in big purchases but [there is] still decent activity in businesses signing leases and starting businesses.

• Our business has slowed because our clients’ businesses have uncertainty. We are a sale-side boutique investment bank. Some look to benefit from tariffs, and others will hurt. Our clients seem to be making no decisions until they have clarity. Our current business (deals in market) is moving forward, and buyers are still engaged.
• We think we've seen the full impact of tariffs, but I'm starting to see cracks in consumer spending.

• We don't know what the indirect impact is, but we are still on a hiring freeze.

• We are working with different companies trying to establish operations in the U.S.A. and Texas.
• Tariff shifts and ongoing trade uncertainty have created significant volatility in our workload. The frequent start-and-stop nature of international shipping—both in U.S. imports and in steamship line booking changes for U.S. exports—has produced a highly inconsistent flow of cargo. This “lumpy” environment results in a feast-or-famine cycle, where we are either at overcapacity with work or facing extended slow periods.

• We are optimistic given that big and small business are on the same level playing field. We would not want to be big business currently without a lot of money.
• We are waiting for our suppliers to pass the charges on to us.

• Some tariffs will benefit our company, but others will reduce consumer purchasing.

• Because we export, we could potentially be impacted by retaliatory tariffs in markets we support. This could potentially make our goods artificially higher [in price], and the brands we support could either decide to curtail U.S. imports or look for alternative sources. Currently, we do not see pushback in any of our markets, but the threat remains a topic of concern/conversation.

• Customers don't like seeing these increases, but we clearly state that the additional price increases are directly related to tariffs.

• We plan to pass all increased costs to our consumers, regardless of whether it is from tariffs or any other reason.

• My company will be automating in areas that reduce labor cost, thus laying off some employees and reducing our benefits costs. We also plan to streamline our menu, so we have fewer items that have become too expensive to pass on the cost to customers. We will also look at our hours of operations, possibly reducing them. We are not very confident at this point.