Tariffs Settling Around 15% As the Trade War De-Escalates: BofA CEO

Bank of America CEO Brian Moynihan said the Trump administration’s trade policy is showing signs of de-escalation after a year in which tariffs unsettled businesses.

“If you go back to where we were in April, there was a lot of lack of understanding about where this would end up, and that affected small businesses and medium-sized businesses,” Moynihan said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation,” which aired Sunday.

“They were shocked,” he said.

Since returning to office, President Donald Trump has rolled out a 10% baseline tariff on imports, alongside higher rates for certain countries and product-specific duties such as those on automobiles.

But what initially disrupted planning and purchasing decisions is now becoming clearer, Moynihan said, with Bank of America’s internal outlook pointing toward a broad tariff floor.

As negotiations progressed, Moynihan said tariffs have begun clustering around roughly 15% for many countries, with higher levels reserved for those that decline to buy US goods or ease non-tariff barriers.

“To go from a 10% across the board, to 15% for the broad base of countries, not a huge impact,” Moynihan said.

“And that’s where our team says it’s starting to de-escalate,” he added.

‘China’s a different question’

China, however, is an exception, Moynihan said.

“China’s a different question, because the national security interests, the rare earth minerals, the magnets, batteries, just AI, all that stuff. It’s a very different case.”

Moynihan also flagged North American trade as its own track, saying “the USMCA, which has to be redone, is also a different case” — a reference to the agreement’s scheduled review next year.

For smaller firms, Moynihan suggested that the current challenge hasn’t just been the tariff rate itself, even as interest rates have come down over the past year.

“So they’re more their issue right now is, can I get the labor I need to do, to bid the contracts, to do the work I’m doing?” he said, pointing to immigration policies as a source of concern.

“It’s not that they agree with them or are disagreeing. They just need to have the answer, and that’s what they’re looking for.”