Middle-Market Firms Face Tariff-Driven Margin Pressure

PYMNTS Intelligence reports in "How Middle-Market Business Uncertainty Rewrote 2025" that tariffs and shifting trade signals made uncertainty the defining feature of 2025 for U.S. middle-market firms, based on a Nov. 20–26 survey of 60 CFOs at companies with $100 million–$1 billion revenue. The study finds goods firms faced sharper operational and margin pressures, prompting defensive strategies like supply-chain diversification and risk management.