Citigroup CEO says most business clients can absorb 10% tariffs

[NEW YORK] Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser said on Monday most of the bank’s business clients could absorb US tariffs of 10 per cent on the nation’s trading partners, but cautioned that companies are waiting on investments and hiring until there is more economic clarity.

“If it is 10 per cent, most of the clients we talk to say, ‘Yeah we can absorb that,’ if it is 25 per cent, not so much,” Fraser said at the Milken Institute Global Conference in Los Angeles.

“Most companies are in a bit of limbo land, … and in that investment spending, some of that is being suspended, some of the decisions on capex and hiring are on hold,” she said. “That will have an impact on demand and the economy.”

Fraser said tariffs could have an impact on supply and prices, depending on tariff levels.

“What we are hearing from clients is that they are prepping for headwinds,” she said, adding that some are taking actions such as strengthening balance sheets.

The US economy contracted for the first time in three years in the first quarter amid a flood of imports to beat President Donald Trump’s tariffs. The International Monetary Fund has forecast that US gross domestic product will grow only 1.8 per cent in 2025.

On private credit, Fraser said a group of investors including Citi provided US$800 million to an Apollo Global-backed vehicle, as part of a financing deal involving Boeing.

Apollo has offered a private credit financing package to partly finance Thomas Bravo’s US$10.6 billion acquisition of Boeing’s Jeppesen navigation unit, according to news reports.

Last year Citigroup and Apollo Global partnered for a US$25 billion private credit and direct lending programme, illustrating a growing alliance between banks and non-banks looking for a slice of the lucrative US$2 trillion market. REUTERS