Donald Trump. Photo / AP
Chief executive angst and disappointment with the US president features strongly in the 2018 Herald survey.
Fifty-five per cent of survey respondents felt the president's policies were worse than they had expected; 36 per cent what they expected.
Some 22 per cent of respondents said Trump's policies were now impacting on their businesses.
Many CEOs were not particularly impressed with the tweeting US President: "He's a fool", "He's unhinged", "He's a train wreck", "Again a low bar; A populist narcissistic ego driven bully that denigrates America", were just some of the on-the-nose comments.
"Ungovernable, unpredictable and ego-driven — couldn't be a worse combination," said company director Dame Alison Paterson.
Others saw through the bombast.
"Despite the rhetoric, if you look at the pressure applied to Germany with a gas pipeline deal with Russia, Trump actually represented the US well," said Skellerup's David Mair.
Said a company chair: "He has done exactly what he said he would do."
"He's doing much of what he campaigned for," chimed an energy chief.
While the Trump Administration's "sugar boost" tax cuts are fuelling strong US economic growth, there was a perception they are not sustainable and will sooner or later result in grief. "I had a very low expectations prior to his inauguration," said ICBC NZ's Don Brash, a former Governor of the Reserve Bank.
"He has turned out to be even worse than expected. Yes, cutting the ridiculously high corporate tax rate and reducing excessive regulation have both been good moves, but his understanding of international trade (and what trade deficits mean) and the relationship between fiscal and monetary policy is non-existent, and that ignorance is a serious threat to the global economy.
"Thank goodness for the "resistance!"
"The erratic US president is currently the greatest risk to global economic and political stability," said a marketer. "Six months ago we were contemplating nuclear war on the Korean Peninsula. The closer the Mueller investigation gets to the President and his family, the increasingly extreme and dangerous foreign affairs behaviour can be expected as a distraction for the media from domestic politics."
Impact on NZ business
A number of businesses are benefiting from the Trump policies.
"It is beyond our understanding how the economic improvements have been made," said Mainfreight's Don Braid. "Maybe it's short-term and it's the tax cuts that are helping. But they have and that is benefiting our business with the USA."
Pan Pac Forest Products Doug Ducker said his company exports timber products to the US and indirectly through China. "US domestic expansion has seen increased demand, however the tariff issues have caused Chinese customers/exporters to curtail or relocate their businesses."
Others pointed to market instability resulting in NZ facing greater competition from US products in third markets (NZIBF's Stephen Jacobi); lower taxes on their business in the US — a positive (legal boss) and the effects on bond yields and capital market.