Kathmandu. US President Donald Trump is adopting various strategies to get his country out of the debt trap. He has imposed tariffs on countries around the world. However, it seems to have had the opposite effect.
So far this year, 446 big companies in the United States have turned upside down. This is 12 percent more than the figure of the corona period in 2020.
In July alone, 71 big companies in the United States were turned upside down. This is the highest number of companies that have turned upside down in a month since July 2020.
Trump imposed a 10 percent tariff on foreign goods in April. Incidentally, the number of companies that have turned upside down in the US has been increasing since this month.
In the first six months of 2025, 371 big American companies have turned upside down. In June, 63 companies filed applications. Companies that have turned upside down this year include many popular brands from the 1990s and 2000s. These include Forever 21, Joans, Right Aid, Party City and Claridge.
Smallcap companies have been the most affected in the US. At the end of 2024, the number of loss-making Russell 2000 companies reached 43 percent. Which is the highest since 2020. That number was 41 percent during the 2008 crisis.
Then began Trump’s tariff war. Despite many changes, tariffs in the US are still very high. The us tariff is 17.3 percent. Which is the highest since 1935.
This year, 70 companies in the industrial sector have turned upside down. While 61 companies of consumer discretionary sector have been closed. Thirty-two companies in the healthcare sector, 22 in consumer staple, 21 in IT, 13 in financial, 11 in real estate, 11 in communications, seven in materials, four in utility and energy sectors have turned upside down this year. Companies in these sectors are facing the maximum impact of tariffs.
Tariffs also pose a risk of rising inflation and unemployment in the US. In July, 11 percent of small companies said their sales were very weak. This is an important indicator of unemployment in america. Small companies in the US employ 62.3 million people. That’s 45.9 percent of the population.
Unemployment among young people aged 20 to 24 in the United States has averaged 8.1 percent in the last three months. Which is the highest in four years. This is at the 2008 level.
Companies are resorting to AI to cut costs and cutting jobs at the entry level. At the same time, inflation has also started to raise its head again. PPI inflation rose by 0.9 per cent. Which is the highest since 2022.
Core CPI inflation has also crossed 3 per cent. This has made it difficult for the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. However, Trump continues to demand this. It is believed that interest rates can be reduced by 25 bps in September.
