US tariff policy is currently the number one concern for corporate leaders around the world.

This is shown by the current CEO survey by EY Parthenon, EY's strategy and transaction consultancy, which was reported on by "Welt" (Saturday edition). 42 percent of the approximately 1,200 managers surveyed in April cite current geopolitical and trade policy uncertainty as the main risk to their company. Issues such as the climate crisis and the resulting new environmental legislation, labor and skilled labor shortages, and technology and cybersecurity threats rank at about half as high at most.

The first reaction to the threat of a global trade war is restraint. "The uncertainty is enormous and is causing companies around the world to rethink their investment plans," said Sandra Krusch, partner at EY-Parthenon in Germany. "In concrete terms, this means companies are waiting and postponing major investment decisions." The volatile and unpredictable US tariff policy has thus become the biggest global economic risk. German companies, in particular, are putting the brakes on: 85 percent of CEOs in this country say they have recently changed their investment plans due to trade policy developments. Two-thirds report a postponement of investments. In addition, four out of ten companies have completely stopped at least one project. This is more than in any other of the 21 industrialized countries included in the study. By comparison, the corresponding figure is only 23 percent in China, 14 percent in Canada, and the global average is 22 percent. "The German corporate landscape is characterized by its high degree of internationalization," explained Krusch. "Disrupted supply chains, high additional costs, price increases in purchasing and sales, high liquidity burdens, and enormously increasing administrative costs: This is a disaster, especially for globalized German corporations."