Trump’s Tariff Threat Is Already Panicking the Junk Debt Market

Donald Trump’s team may have been batting around the idea of a gradual ratcheting up of import tariffs on much of the world, but bankers who finance the companies in his firing line are in a frenzy nonetheless.

As the president-elect’s inauguration looms next week, some European businesses in threatened industries have accelerated borrowing plans to get ahead of any punitive measures. Others are being grilled by lenders on how they’ll be impacted by as-yet undisclosed tariffs. Private credit funds, who make loans to riskier midsized companies, are being questioned by investors about their exposure to vulnerable borrowers.

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