India, July 2 -- An analysis finds that a critical group of US employers would face a direct cost of USD 82.3 billion from President Donald Trump's current tariff plans, a sum that could be potentially managed through price hikes, layoffs, hiring freezes or lower profit margins.

The analysis by the JPMorganChase Institute is among the first to measure the direct costs created by the import taxes on businesses with USD 10 million to USD 1 billion in annual revenue, a category that includes roughly a third of private-sector US workers. These companies are more dependent than other businesses on imports from China, India and Thailand - and the retail and wholesale sectors would be especially vulnerable to the import taxes being levied by th...