It’s a scene that’s become all too familiar in 2025: industries, politicians, and ordinary citizens grappling with the far-reaching effects of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs. From the bustling industrial parks of Santa Teresa, New Mexico, to the boardrooms of Swiss luxury watchmakers and the corridors of power in Ottawa, the economic ripple is unmistakable. The tariffs, initially billed as a way to bolster American industry and correct perceived trade imbalances, have instead sparked price hikes, slowed growth, and triggered political recalibrations across multiple continents.
On October 16, 2025, Debra Haaland, a former Secretary of the Interior and now a Democratic candidate for governor of New Mexico, visited Santa Teresa—a town at the heart of the state’s booming industrial sector. The site is abuzz with preparations for a $165 billion artificial intelligence data center, a joint venture between Oracle and OpenAI. Haaland’s visit, reported by Border Report, underscored the region’s economic dynamism but also highlighted growing anxieties over the Trump administration’s tariffs.
Haaland didn’t mince words about the impact these tariffs are having on New Mexicans. “Oh, dear heaven. The tariffs are so negative, causing everything to be more expensive,” she said. “Everybody cites the tariffs as to why their grocery bills are going up. The tariffs are a scam; Trump should take those down immediately.” She emphasized that New Mexico’s prosperity is intimately tied to its trade relationship with Mexico, noting, “New Mexicans rely on the trade relationship with Mexico. […] I just feel when they implemented these tariffs it was not a well thought out plan, it was done to punish countries but, as we see now, it’s punishing Americans, it’s punishing New Mexicans.”
Haaland’s concerns are echoed far beyond New Mexico. In Switzerland, the government on the same day slashed its 2026 GDP growth forecast from 1.2% to just 0.9%, citing Trump’s tariffs as a “heavy burden” on its export-driven economy. The U.S. became Switzerland’s largest foreign market in 2024, but that relationship has been strained since August, when a 39% tariff was slapped on Swiss goods entering the U.S. Pharmaceuticals—one of Switzerland’s most valuable exports—now face tariffs as high as 100% unless manufactured on American soil.
Swiss officials, in their Thursday update, painted a bleak picture: “The additional tariffs are placing a heavy burden on affected sectors and export-oriented companies, with significant ripple effects expected across the broader economy. Moreover, persistent uncertainty is also dampening economic activity.” The government further warned that most of America’s other trading partners had secured lower tariff rates, putting Swiss exporters at a distinct disadvantage. “The current trade policy environment presents particular challenges for Switzerland,” they said, noting that “downside risks currently dominate.”
Economists are bracing for even tougher times ahead. Charlotte de Montpellier, a senior economist at ING, told CNBC that “risks for the Swiss economy are mounting,” estimating that the 39% tariffs could shave about 0.86% off Swiss GDP within two years. She recently revised her own 2026 growth forecast down to 0.8%, warning that “the likelihood of having a quarter of negative growth has strongly increased.” Melanie Debono of Pantheon Macroeconomics concurred, predicting that Switzerland would enter a recession in the second half of 2025, with GDP contracting by 0.2% in both Q3 and Q4.
Swiss businesses are already making tough choices. Georges Kern, CEO of the luxury watchmaker Breitling, called the tariffs “terrible news” for Switzerland. “39% tariffs is horrible,” he told CNBC. To cope, Breitling hiked prices in the U.S. by 4% and adjusted prices globally, explaining, “you cannot just increase prices to the consumer by 39%.” Kern remained optimistic about a political solution, but acknowledged the immediate pain: “Thank god we have a certain pricing power at our price point, I don’t think it will impact us dramatically, actually we’re growing.”
Meanwhile, north of the border, Canada’s economy is also reeling. On October 16, Canada’s Export Development Canada slashed its 2025 GDP growth forecast from 1.8% to 0.9%, warning of a tariff-induced recession. Official statistics showed Canada’s real GDP fell by 0.4% in the second quarter, with exports and business investment both hit hard by the trade war. Prime Minister Mark Carney, elected in April on a platform of defending Canada from Trump’s trade policies, has since pivoted to a more conciliatory approach. In June, Canada rescinded its digital services tax—a key irritant for Trump—and in August, it lifted billions in retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods. Carney met with Trump in early October to discuss trade, even calling the American president a “transformative president.”
The numbers, however, tell a sobering story. The U.S. imposed a 25% tariff on Canadian goods in January, then raised the rate to 35% in July. Sectoral tariffs have been particularly punishing: steel faces a 50% tariff, while cars and car parts are hit with 25%. The result? Canadian car exports plummeted by nearly 25% in the second quarter, industrial machinery exports dropped 18.5%, and overall exports fell 7.5%. The country’s unemployment rate has climbed to 7.1%, its highest level since 2016, excluding pandemic years.
Back in the United States, the impact of tariffs is being felt in everyday purchases. Recent data from the Federal Reserve, cited by CNBC, shows that “prices rose further during the reporting period,” with tariff-induced cost increases reported across many districts. Companies are split—some are absorbing the higher costs, while others are passing them on to consumers. According to a Goldman Sachs report cited by NBC News, American consumers are shouldering up to 55% of the cost of the tariffs.
Despite inflation falling from its 2022 peak of over 9%, it remains stubbornly above what economists consider healthy. The White House, for its part, maintains that the tariffs are a necessary tool to “upend a broken status quo that has put America Last.” White House spokesman Kush Desai told NBC, “Companies are already shifting and diversifying their supply chains in response to tariffs, including by onshoring production to the United States. Americans can rest assured that the administration will continue to deliver economic relief from Joe Biden’s inflation crisis while laying the groundwork for a long-term restoration of American Greatness.”
As the debate rages on, the only certainty is uncertainty itself. With primaries and a general election looming in New Mexico, and recession clouds gathering over Canada and Switzerland, the world is watching to see whether the current trade wars will yield to compromise—or escalate further. For now, families, workers, and business leaders across borders are left to navigate a turbulent economic landscape, hoping for relief but bracing for more bumps ahead.
