US President Donald Trump was set to meet CEOs of America’s biggest companies on Tuesday amid a growing uncertainty over his tariff war that affected capital markets across the globe, including those in the US, due to fears of recession.

The meeting, reported Bloomberg, with the Washington-based Business Roundtable will include chief executives from around the country such as the leaders of Wall Street’s lending giants.

Reuters reported that the top business leaders expected to attend the meeting are Cisco Systems Inc. chief executive officer Chuck Robbins, who will chair the discussions, JPMorgan Chase & Co CEO Jamie Dimon and Citigroup CEO Jane Fraser, among others.

There was, however, no official statement from the Business Roundtable and the White House, Reuters reported.

Though Trump’s victory in the US Presidential Elections was welcomed by the industry, especially the banking sector, his announcements raised concerns of an economic slowdown and spooked markets. The economic policies so far have centered on a blitz of tariff announcements — some of which have taken effect and others delayed or set to kick in later — that he has said will correct unbalanced trade relations, bring jobs back to the country and stop the flow of illegal narcotics from abroad. Last week, Trump mentioned that there may be an “adjustment period” as tariffs take effect.

In his second term at the White House, Trump has imposed an additional 20 per cent tariff on Chinese goods entering the United States, as well as 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, although he suspended most the duties on US neighbours until April 2, when he plans to unveil a global regime of reciprocal tariffs on all trading partners, including countries such as India.

Against this backdrop, his meeting with the top CEOs has evoked interest as investors will watch for any signals from Trump on the likelihood of tariff-policy shifts or support for equity markets.

On Monday, the US markets reported a huge selloff, with tech stocks tumbling the most since 2022, dipping the Nasdaq 100 Index by nearly 4 per cent. Crypto prices dropped, and corporate bond sales were scrapped due to concerns over tariff hikes, spending cuts and geopolitical decisions.

“There’s going to be a period where I think it’s going to be panic at the disco,” Amy Wu Silverman, RBC Capital Markets equity derivatives strategist, told Bloomberg.

“We haven’t gotten there yet. But as these levels climb there will be unwinds and more uncertainty that triggers even more,” he added.

“It took a few weeks for Trump to break the international economic regime, presumably with a plan to fix and replace it with something ‘better’,” Michael Rosen, chief investment officer of Angeles Investment Advisors, told Bloomberg. “Absent a clear idea of what ‘better’ is, investors are just left with the detritus of the broken global economic framework. Unless and until we see what replaces it, investors will be cautious, at best,” he added.