Trump tariffs are already hitting freelance ad budgets.
One ad agency cut rates in half.
Freelancers are starting to feel the gut punch of tariffs as global ad agencies start quietly cutting back on projects and pausing plans.
One shocked freelance PR executive who depends on ad agencies for work told me last night, “People are losing projects. Projects are ending and they’ve been cutting rates in half.” Overseas corporations are facing a minimum of 25 percent tariffs on products sold into the US and ad agencies are on the front line of budget pullbacks.
In France, Trump threatened 200 percent tariffs on champagne alone. Major ad agencies are facing a dramatic reduction in the global exchange of goods as overseas governments consider how to retaliate. Global travel is also impacted as resorts and airlines report a decline in summer bookings on fears of traveling to the U.S.
“Brands are holding off until they know what’s happening. They don’t know. It changes multiple times a day,” the freelance PR executive told me.
Ruben Schreurs, the chief executive of media investment firm Ebiquity, told ad industry trade The Drum how tariffs are going to affect auto giants. “We’re not talking about small amounts; a 25% increase in price completely changes the competitive position of brands and the models they push. So, it will trickle down [to advertising] in that sense.”
“Market volatility,” also wiped $20 billion from a recent global ad forecast for 2025 and 2006 from WARC. “The risk of prolonged stagflation - and outright recession - has grown in key economies, exacerbated by new trade tariffs set to bite from the second half 2025. Automakers, retailers and tech brands are most exposed.” Linear TV, publishing and audio are all subject to reduced forecasts.
Sir Martin Sorrell, the former chief executive of WPP Group, recently warned that import taxes would hit his tech dependent ad business S4.
The ad business annual confab Cannes Lions, held in June, may end up feeling the pinch with one European agency saying they’ll send staff for the day instead of booking them into hotels.
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