Trump's tariff proposals, trade war will be bad for both US and China: CNBC survey

• Almost two-thirds of CNBC Global CFO Council respondents say President Donald Trump's trade tariffs will have a negative impact on their companies, reveals a CNBC quarterly survey.
• Even more say the trade war will have a negative impact on both the U.S. and Chinese economies.
• The CNBC Global CFO Council represents some of the largest public and private companies in the world, collectively managing more than $4.5 trillion in market capitalization.

U.S. trade policy has risen to the top of the list of "biggest external risks" facing the members of the CNBC Global CFO Council.

More than a quarter (27.3 percent) of council members responding to a quarterly poll say U.S. trade policy is now the biggest risk their company faces. That's up from 11.6 percent in the fourth quarter of 2017, outranking other threats that have recently ranked high among business concerns, including "threat of cyberattack" and "consumer demand."

The CNBC Global CFO Council represents some of the largest public and private companies in the world, collectively managing more than $4.5 trillion in market capitalization across a wide variety of sectors.

The survey was conducted after President Donald Trump signed a pair of proclamations that impose tariffs on imported steel and aluminum, but before the announcement on Thursday that the United States will seek trade penalties of up to $60 billion against China for intellectual property theft.

President Donald Trump speaks before signing a presidential memorandum targeting China's economic aggression in the Diplomatic Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Thursday, March 22, 2018.

Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

CFOs voiced strong opposition to metals tariffs, especially in the broader context: potential retaliatory moves taken by other countries. "The impact direct from steel/aluminum tariffs would be negligible," said one CFO respondent. "The indirect impact from retaliation could be significant."

Almost two-thirds of respondents (65.8 percent) say the tariffs will have a negative impact on their companies, and even more (86.9 percent) say they will have a negative impact on both the U.S. and Chinese economies.

The CFO Council's outlook for GDP has been downgraded amid the increased tariff fears, including in three key global economies. Canada, China and Japan were downgraded from "improving" to "stable" by CFOs.

Still, the United States was rated as "improving" for the seventh straight quarter, while the Euro zone was seen as "improving" for the fourth straight quarter. No region was seen as worse than "stable," a trend that has now held for five quarters.

Complete survey results below:

(Note: Thirty-eight of the 105 current members of the CNBC Global CFO Council responded to this quarter's survey, including 22 North American-based members. The survey was conducted from March 9–20, 2018.)