Global Economics Analyst Macro Outlook 2025 Tailwinds (Probably) Trump Tariffs
We expect the second Trump administration to bring higher China and auto tariffs, much lower immigration, some fresh tax cuts, and regulatory easing. If so, the US economy should grow 2.5% in 2025, outperforming consensus expectations and other DM economies for the third year in a row. The biggest risk is a large across-the-board tariff, which would likely hit growth hard.
We have cut our Euro area GDP forecast to a below-consensus 0.8%, reflecting ongoing structural headwinds and a hit from trade policy uncertainty. We have also shaved our 2025 China GDP forecast to 4.5% because of higher US tariffs that are only partially offset by easier macro policies. Risks in both Europe and China are on the downside if tariffs increase beyond our baseline.
US core PCE inflation should slow to 2.4% by late 2025, higher than our prior forecast of 2.0% but still benign. Our forecast would rise to around 3% with an across-the-board tariff of 10%. In the Euro area, we expect core inflation to slow to 2% by late 2025 and are less concerned about upside risks even with a broader trade war. Lowflation risks have abated in Japan.