Unless U.S. policymakers find a solution to avoid the so-called "fiscal cliff," in which $600 billion in tax increases and budget cuts are scheduled to arrive on January 1, Eaton CEO Sandy Cutler told CNBC Wednesday he fears negative consequences for his business.
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After Tuesday's presidential and congressional elections, Washington will have less than two months to address the "fiscal cliff," which some worry could fuel a fresh recession. To Cutler, the uncertainty surrounding what action lawmakers will take, if any, might already be affecting his company's bottom line.
(Read More: Romney Win Would Be Better for Avoiding 'Fiscal Cliff': Goldman.)
"As we've approached year-end this year, for many of our customers, the reality of trying to plan around this uncertainty has become much closer in," Cutler said. "So while a year ago, I think people found it interesting on sort of an academic sense to talk about the impact of the cliff, now they're really trying to figure out should they buy ahead of that or should they wait afterwards."
Speaking with Jim Cramer, host of CNBC's "Mad Money," Cutler said it will take both Democrats and Republicans to avoid the threat of the "fiscal cliff."
(Read More: CEOs Pressure Politicians to Get Serious on Debt.)
"We do feel it's very important for a bipartisan team to come together to really address these issues of coming to an agreement around what are the important levers to solve our 'fiscal cliff.'"
Despite the uncertain political and economic environments, Cutler said Eaton has produced strong results in its electrical businesses. The U.S. manufacturer Eaton reported lower-than-expected quarterly profit on Wednesday due to weaker results in units that supply auto, plane and truck industries.
(Read More: Eaton 3Q Profit Falls 5% on Lower Demand.)
The maker of electrical and hydraulic systems said its markets should pick up in 2013, though. Its shares closed sharply higher Wednesday.
—Reuters contributed to this report
When this story was published, Cramer's charitable trust owned Eaton
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