(Editor's Note: At the time this article was originally published, we misclassified one rating action in Asia-Pacific as tariff-driven. We have since removed this rating action from our count. A corrected version of the report follows.
S&P Global Ratings believes there is a high degree of unpredictability around policy implementation by the U.S. administration and possible responses--specifically with regard to tariffs--and the potential effect on economies, supply chains, and credit conditions around the world. As a result, our baseline forecasts carry a significant amount of uncertainty. As situations evolve, we will gauge the macro and credit materiality of potential and actual policy shifts and reassess our guidance accordingly (see our research here: spglobal.com/ratings). )
This report does not constitute a rating action.
In response to investors’ ongoing interest on tariff impacts on global trade and its corresponding credit effects on issuers we rate, S&P Global Ratings is publishing a biweekly update of rating actions we have taken globally on nonfinancial and financial corporate, sovereign, U.S. public finance, international public finance, and structured finance entities (see list of article titles below), as well as a summary table and supporting charts.
These are public ratings in which 2025 tariff pronouncements are a primary driver of the action. Rating actions may include upgrades, downgrades, outlook revisions, and CreditWatch placements as of May 2, 2025, unless stated otherwise.
Key Takeaways
- Tariff-driven rating actions are limited thus far, with 11 globally as of May 2, 2025.
- Rating actions include three downgrades (one accompanied by a negative outlook), four CreditWatch negative placements, and four outlook revisions to negative.
- Actions are primarily concentrated in the consumer products (four) and retail/restaurants (three) sectors, with the remainder spread evenly across other sectors. Of the 11 issuers affected, 10 are based in the U.S., and one is from Europe.
Chart 1
Chart 2
Table 1
Tariff-driven rating actions by type and category | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
North America | Europe | Asia-Pacific | Latin America | EEMEA | Total | |||||||||||
Downgrade | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||||
Downgrade + negative outlook/CreditWatch revision | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||
CreditWatch negative | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
Outlook revision to negative | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||||||
Upgrade | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||||||||||
Total | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||||||||||
Investment-grade | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||||
Speculative-grade | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 | ||||||||||
Total | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | ||||||||||
Data as of May 2, 2025. Data includes rating actions taken on nonfinancial and financial corporates, sovereigns, U.S. public finance, and international public finance issuers. Source: S&P Global Ratings Credit Research & Insights. |
Chart 3
Chart 4
Chart 5
Table 2
Tariff-driven rating actions by country and action type | ||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Country | Downgrade | Downgrade + negative outlook/CreditWatch revision | CreditWatch negative | Negative outlook revision | Upgrade | Total | ||||||||||
U.S. | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 10 | ||||||||||
Slovakia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ||||||||||
Total | 2 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 11 | ||||||||||
Data as of May 2, 2025. Data includes rating actions taken on nonfinancial and financial corporates, sovereigns, U.S. public finance, and international public finance issuers. Source: S&P Global Ratings Credit Research & Insights. |
Table 3
Tariff driven rating actions by rating category and action type | ||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Date | Company | Action | Previous OLCW | Current OLCW | Rating to | Rating from | Sector | Industry | Country | Region | ||||||||||||
3/10/2025 | Fender Musical Instruments Corp. | Downgrade and negative outlook revision | Stable | Negative | B- | B | Corporate | Media and entertainment | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
4/4/2025 | GSM Outdoors Intermediate Holding II Corp. | Negative outlook revision | Stable | Negative | B | B | Corporate | Consumer products | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
4/15/2025 | CB Poly Investments LLC | Negative outlook revision | Stable | Negative | B | B | Corporate | Consumer products | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
4/16/2025 | Harbor Freight Tools USA Inc. | CreditWatch negative | Stable | Negative | BB- | BB- | Corporate | Retail and restaurants | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
4/22/2025 | The Michaels Cos. Inc. | CreditWatch negative | Stable | Negative | B- | B- | Corporate | Retail and restaurants | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
4/25/2025 | Slovakia | Negative outlook revision | Stable | Negative | A+ | A+ | Sovereign | Sovereign | Slovakia | Europe | ||||||||||||
4/28/2025 | Conair Holdings LLC | Downgrade | Negative | Developing | CCC+ | B- | Corporate | Consumer products | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
5/1/2025 | Los Angeles Harbor Department | Negative outlook revision | Positive | Stable | AA+ | AA+ | USPF | USPF | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
5/1/2025 | Polaris Inc. | Downgrade | Negative | Negative | BBB- | BBB | Corporate | Hotel and gaming | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
5/2/2025 | VC GB Holdings I Corp. | CreditWatch negative | Stable | Negative | B | B | Corporate | Consumer products | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
5/2/2025 | SSH Holdings Inc. (dba Spencer Spirit) | CreditWatch negative | Stable | Negative | BB- | BB- | Corporate | Retail and restaurants | U.S. | North America | ||||||||||||
Data as of May 2, 2025. OLCW--Outlook/CreditWatch. Data includes rating actions taken on nonfinancial and financial corporates, sovereigns, U.S. public finance, and international public finance issuers. Source: S&P Global Ratings Credit Research & Insights. | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Structured Finance
As of May 2, 2025, there have been no rating actions this year in which tariff pronouncements were a primary driver of a structured finance rating action. We will continue to monitor this sector and update this publication accordingly.
Rating Action Publications
Week of April 28
- SSH Holdings Inc. Ratings Placed On CreditWatch Negative On Tariff Risk, May 2, 2025
- VC GB Holdings I Corp. (aka Visual Comfort & Co.) Ratings Placed On CreditWatch Negative On Tariff-Related Risk, May 2, 2025
- Polaris Rating Lowered To 'BBB-' On Higher Anticipated Leverage, Outlook Remains Negative, May 1, 2025
- Los Angeles Harbor Department, CA Outlook Revised To Stable From Positive On Financial Metrics Variability, May 1, 2025
- Conair Holdings LLC Downgraded To 'CCC+' From 'B-' On Tariff Risk; Outlook Developing, April 28, 2025, April 28, 2025
Week of April 21
- Slovakia Outlook Revised To Negative On Rising Economic Risks; 'A+/A-1' Ratings Affirmed, April 25, 2025
- The Michaels Companies Inc. Ratings, Including The 'B-' Issuer Credit Rating, Placed On CreditWatch Negative On Tariff Risk, April 22, 2025
Week of April 14
- Harbor Freight Tools USA Inc. Ratings Placed On Credit Watch Negative On Tariff Risk, April 16, 2025
- CB Poly Investments LLC Outlook Revised To Negative On Weaker Cash Flow And Profitability; Ratings Affirmed, April 15, 2025
Week of March 31
- GSM Outdoors Intermediate Holding II Corp.’s Outlook Revised to Negative on Tariff Risk, April 4, 2025
Week of March 10
- Fender Musical Instruments Downgraded To 'B-' From 'B' On Weaker Credit Metrics; Outlook Negative Due To Tariff Risk, March 10, 2025
Related Research
- Durable Goods And Apparel Brace For The Brunt Of U.S. Tariffs, May 1, 2025
- U.S. Economic Outlook Update: Higher Tariffs And Policy Uncertainty To Weaken Growth, May 1, 2025
- European Infrastructure Companies Are Showing Resilience Amid U.S. Tariff Uncertainty, April 29, 2025
- China Local Government Brief: Coastal Provinces To Take Bigger Tariff Hits, April 24, 2025
- Tariff Uncertainty Will Weigh On U.S. Tech Credit Outlooks, April 24, 2025
- Global Airlines Brace For Tariff Uncertainty, April 22, 2025
- Tariff Impacts Will Vary By Sector In U.S. Structured Finance, April 17, 2025
- Global Financial Institutions: The Tariff Hits Won't Land Evenly, April 17, 2025
- Credit Conditions North America Special Update: Tariff Turmoil, April 17, 2025
- Emerging Markets Monthly Highlights: U.S. Tariffs Cast A Cloud Over Economic Growth, April 16, 2025
- Tariffs Take The Wheel: Higher Prices, Lower Sales, Greater Risks For The North American Auto Sector, April 14, 2025
- Asia-Pacific Credit Conditions To Deteriorate Amid Tariff Fallout, April 7, 2025
- Global Credit Conditions Q2 2025: Puzzling Reshuffling, March 31, 2025
- Global Economic Outlook Q2 2025: Spike In U.S. Policy Uncertainty Dampens Growth Prospects, March 27, 2025
- China: Can Stimulus Offset Slow Growth And New Tariffs?, March 24, 2025
- Credit FAQ: Japan's Auto Sector Faces Tariff Tribulations, March 20, 2025
- Industry Credit Outlook: Tariffs Cloud Corporate Earnings, March 19, 2025
- Asia-Pacific Corporates 2025: Who Can Take The Tariff Hit?, March 19, 2025
- Steel And Aluminum Tariffs Boost Prices For U.S. Metal Producers, Costs For Manufacturers, March 13, 2025
- Tariff Uncertainty Could Strain Large Canadian Banks' Profitability, March 12, 2025
- China's Steelmakers Face 15%-20% Tariff-Driven Slump In Exports, March 12, 2025
- For Canadian Provinces, The Current Credit Complexities Are Not Just About Tariffs, March 5, 2025
- Growth Prospects Strained After The U.S. Takes The Tariff Plunge, March 5, 2025
- U.S. Tariffs On Canada And Mexico Would Squeeze Some North American Refiners' Margins, March 3, 2025
- Macro Effects Of Proposed U.S. Tariffs Are Negative All-Around, Feb. 6, 2025
Primary Contact: | Credit Markets Research, New York 1-212-438-1396; cmr@spglobal.com |
No content (including ratings, credit-related analyses and data, valuations, model, software, or other application or output therefrom) or any part thereof (Content) may be modified, reverse engineered, reproduced, or distributed in any form by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of Standard & Poor’s Financial Services LLC or its affiliates (collectively, S&P). The Content shall not be used for any unlawful or unauthorized purposes. S&P and any third-party providers, as well as their directors, officers, shareholders, employees, or agents (collectively S&P Parties) do not guarantee the accuracy, completeness, timeliness, or availability of the Content. S&P Parties are not responsible for any errors or omissions (negligent or otherwise), regardless of the cause, for the results obtained from the use of the Content, or for the security or maintenance of any data input by the user. The Content is provided on an “as is” basis. S&P PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE, FREEDOM FROM BUGS, SOFTWARE ERRORS OR DEFECTS, THAT THE CONTENT’S FUNCTIONING WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, OR THAT THE CONTENT WILL OPERATE WITH ANY SOFTWARE OR HARDWARE CONFIGURATION. In no event shall S&P Parties be liable to any party for any direct, indirect, incidental, exemplary, compensatory, punitive, special or consequential damages, costs, expenses, legal fees, or losses (including, without limitation, lost income or lost profits and opportunity costs or losses caused by negligence) in connection with any use of the Content even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
Credit-related and other analyses, including ratings, and statements in the Content are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed and not statements of fact. S&P’s opinions, analyses, and rating acknowledgment decisions (described below) are not recommendations to purchase, hold, or sell any securities or to make any investment decisions, and do not address the suitability of any security. S&P assumes no obligation to update the Content following publication in any form or format. The Content should not be relied on and is not a substitute for the skill, judgment, and experience of the user, its management, employees, advisors, and/or clients when making investment and other business decisions. S&P does not act as a fiduciary or an investment advisor except where registered as such. While S&P has obtained information from sources it believes to be reliable, S&P does not perform an audit and undertakes no duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information it receives. Rating-related publications may be published for a variety of reasons that are not necessarily dependent on action by rating committees, including, but not limited to, the publication of a periodic update on a credit rating and related analyses.
To the extent that regulatory authorities allow a rating agency to acknowledge in one jurisdiction a rating issued in another jurisdiction for certain regulatory purposes, S&P reserves the right to assign, withdraw, or suspend such acknowledgement at any time and in its sole discretion. S&P Parties disclaim any duty whatsoever arising out of the assignment, withdrawal, or suspension of an acknowledgment as well as any liability for any damage alleged to have been suffered on account thereof.
S&P keeps certain activities of its business units separate from each other in order to preserve the independence and objectivity of their respective activities. As a result, certain business units of S&P may have information that is not available to other S&P business units. S&P has established policies and procedures to maintain the confidentiality of certain nonpublic information received in connection with each analytical process.
S&P may receive compensation for its ratings and certain analyses, normally from issuers or underwriters of securities or from obligors. S&P reserves the right to disseminate its opinions and analyses. S&P's public ratings and analyses are made available on its Web sites, www.spglobal.com/ratings (free of charge), and www.ratingsdirect.com (subscription), and may be distributed through other means, including via S&P publications and third-party redistributors. Additional information about our ratings fees is available at www.spglobal.com/usratingsfees.