紐時賞析／川普關稅重創美國經濟 民眾為省錢不吃零食少洗衣

Consumers Are Cutting Back on Snacks, Flights and Even Laundry

美國消費者正減少吃零食、搭飛機甚至洗衣服

Consumers, worried about the economy, are pulling back on their spending, and that anxiety is translating into lower sales and profits for some of the country’s largest consumer-oriented companies.

面對經濟前景的不確定性，愈來愈多消費者開始縮減支出。這樣的焦慮情緒，已經反映在多家美國大型消費品牌的銷售與獲利數據上。

On Thursday, PepsiCo Inc. cut its full-year guidance outlook, citing a reduction in consumer spending as well as the impact the beverage and snacks company is feeling from increased global tariffs.

百事公司周四下修全年財測，理由是消費者支出減少，加上全球關稅上升帶來的壓力，對這家飲料與零食大廠造成衝擊。

“Relative to where we were three months ago, we probably aren’t feeling as good about the consumer now,” Jamie Caulfield, chief financial officer of PepsiCo, told Wall Street analysts and investors on an earnings call Thursday morning.

「與三個月前相比，我們對消費者的信心明顯下降，」百事公司財務長考菲爾德在周四早上的財報電話會議中對分析師與投資人表示。

The company, which manufactures Pepsi and Gatorade drinks as well as popular snacks such as Doritos and Cheetos, cut its profit forecast for the full year to flat from its earlier guidance that expected earnings growth to be in the mid-single digits. It reported a decline of 1.8% in revenue, to $17.9 billion, for the quarter ending March 22, and a drop of 10% in net income, to $1.8 billion, from the same period a year ago.

這家公司旗下生產百事可樂、開特力、多力多滋與奇多等知名商品，原本預測今年獲利將有中度增長，如今卻將全年獲利預期下修為與去年持平。該公司報告稱，截至3月22日當季結束，收入下降1.8%至179億美元，及淨收入比去年同期下滑10%至18億美元。

Comments made on PepsiCo’s earnings call echoed what executives at other consumer companies have said in recent days about how apprehension in the global economy was key to consumers spending less. The pullback has started to weigh on some companies’ revenues and dampen their outlook for the coming months.

百事在財報會議中釋出的訊息，與近期其他消費品牌高層的說法一致：全球經濟的不確定性正導致消費者減少支出，進而影響企業營收，並使未來展望變得更加保守。

At Chipotle, same-store sales fell for the first time since 2020 in the most recent quarter, the chain reported this week. Uncertainty about the path forward for the U.S. economy started to affect spending in February, the company said, shortly after President Donald Trump’s inauguration — a trend that continued into this month.

例如，美國墨西哥捲餅連鎖店奇波雷本周表示，該公司在最近一季的同店銷售出現自2020年以來的首次下滑。該公司指出，自2月起，美國經濟的不穩定情勢開始影響消費者消費，這股趨勢一路延續至今。

“It was all around this idea of saving money, economic uncertainty — they’re eating at home more frequently than they’re eating out,” said Scott Boatwright, the burrito chain’s CEO.

奇波雷執行長博特萊特表示：「消費者希望省錢，經濟的不確定性讓他們選擇在家用餐的次數明顯增加，外出消費的意願明顯減少。」

Another signal of distress among shoppers: Consumers are doing less laundry to scale back on detergent purchases, an executive from Procter & Gamble, which makes household staples such as Tide detergent, told Yahoo Finance.

另一個消費者苦惱的信號是：寶僑公司一名高管告訴雅虎財經，消費者洗衣次數減少，也縮減洗衣產品購買量。該公司製造汰漬洗衣產品等家用必需品。

On Thursday, P&G cut its full-year outlook and said whiplash on tariff policy had factored into a “pause” in consumption as consumers tried to make sense of stock market volatility and job market uncertainty, said Andre Schulten, the company’s chief financial officer.

寶僑財務長舒爾頓周四表示，公司在周四下修全年財務預測，並稱隨著消費者試圖理解股市波動和就業市場的不確定性，關稅政策的反覆無常已使消費陷入了「停滯」。

文／Julie Creswell and Danielle Kaye　譯／羅方妤