Consumer Confidence Wavers Amid Trade Tensions and Market Volatility

President Trump's on-again, off-again tariff actions have sparked major stock market swings, leaving consumers and lawmakers hesitant about what's next. "My concern is the continued uncertainty with this administration," Nevada Democratic Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto said in an interview with CNN on Wednesday.

Even members of the president's party are noting hesitancy. "It's a stability issue, you know, businesses hate uncertainty," North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis said on Tuesday. "We've got a lot of uncertainty."

The uncertainty increased after Trump issued a 90-day pause on reciprocal tariffs and increased the tariff rate on China.

Recent consumer sentiment surveys show Americans' confidence in the economy is slumping. "People are really concerned about where things are headed," said Jonathan Ernest, an assistant professor of economics at Case Western Reserve University.

New data showed consumer prices eased in March to 2.4% compared to a year earlier. The White House celebrated the news, but economists warn it might not be indicative of what's to come.

"(The CPI data) are sort of a backwards looking indicator of how the economy kind of was doing a month or two ago," Ernest said. "Much more recently, we've had a lot more turmoil introduced into the market that's really shaken consumer confidence."

Stephanie Carls, a retail insights expert with RetailMeNot, says consumers are hesitant to act too quickly in response to the sudden changes. "Consumers aren't panic buying," she said. "They're listening. They're watching. They are waiting." She notes that more consumers are now engaging in "precision buying," being smarter about how they shop and seeking ways to save money.