The Trump administration’s dizzying back-and-forth on tariffs is paralyzing America’s small businesses as they grow worried about the US economy’s future.

Small-business owners — a group that emphatically cheered the election of President Donald Trump and a Republican Congress — now have nearly historic levels of uncertainty about the future.

Key Takeaways Small business owners' confidence dropped in February while uncertainty spiked to its second-highest on record.President Donald Trump's rapidly changing tariff policies have fueled uncertainty and raised concerns about rising prices.

The Trump's administration's on-again, off-again 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico — which went into effect on Tuesday only to be suspended on some items for a month on Thursday — are giving one small-business owner whiplash.

With each day, evidence is mounting across the corporate world that the chaotic implementation of U.S. President Donald Trump's tariffs is translating into caution on Main Street. The uncertainty brought by Trump's threats of tariffs and his shape-shifting trade policies is starting to have a chilling effect across many industries,