The Wall Street adage to never bet against the U.S. consumer still holds true — to some degree. February’s retail sales, while lower than expected, still registered an increase. For the skeptics, that is like desperately squinting for a silver lining. It might very well be. But the dark clouds, in the form of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs, are more ominous than usual.

Tariffs, after all, are a tax on imported goods that will likely be passed on to the consumer. That has weighed on consumer sentiment, as measured by surveys like those from the University of Michigan. Even U.S. National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett acknowledged that Trump’s tariffs will cause some uncertainty.

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development has already lowered its growth outlook for the U.S. because of that. While the Trump administration is confident that stocks will recover their footing, strategists may also start revising downward their market forecast if the outlook does not clear up.