According to a report by foreign media outlet The Washington Post, the number of corporate bankruptcies in the United States surged sharply in 2025 amid the dual pressures of tariffs and inflation, approaching the peak seen shortly after the end of the 2009 Great Recession. Data show that as of November 2025, 717 U.S. companies had filed for bankruptcy.
In response, financial commentator Axun, known online as “Stock Man Axun,” wrote on Facebook that the bankruptcy wave is not being “evenly distributed,” but instead is hitting a few industries particularly hard. He pointed out that three types of industries have become the hardest-hit sectors, and emphasized that this phenomenon is not limited to the United States—Taiwan and the global economy are experiencing the same situation.
Axun noted that if one looks only at the latest U.S. GDP figures, the economy appears to be booming. From July to September, annualized GDP growth reached 4.3%, the highest level in two years. Stock markets have continued to hit new highs, and AI, technology, and luxury consumption all appear prosperous. However, another set of data tells a different story: by November 2025, 717 U.S. companies had filed for bankruptcy, marking a 15-year high and nearing levels seen after the global financial crisis. Over the past year alone, the manufacturing sector has lost more than 70,000 jobs.
Why Is There a Wave of U.S. Corporate Bankruptcies? Axun Identifies Three Key Characteristics
“The bankruptcy wave is not ‘evenly shared’—it is concentrated in specific industries,” Axun said. He identified three key characteristics of the current wave:
First, industry concentration.
Industrial companies—including manufacturing, construction, and transportation—have seen the largest increase in bankruptcies, with manufacturing alone losing more than 70,000 jobs in one year. The second major group consists of companies producing non-essential consumer goods, such as apparel, furniture, and parts of the retail sector. These businesses are highly dependent on imported raw materials, logistics, and labor-intensive production, making them the most directly exposed to rising tariffs and costs.
Second, structural pressure.
On one side, tariffs and freight costs are pushing expenses higher. On the other, interest rates remain elevated, increasing financing costs. At the same time, post-inflation consumer behavior has shifted, with households prioritizing spending on necessities such as food, rent, and healthcare, squeezing demand for non-essential goods.
Third, survival of the fittest.
Many companies are reluctant to pass rising costs fully on to consumers, fearing that price hikes will drive customers toward cheaper competitors. As a result, they absorb the costs themselves, margins are eroded, cash flow deteriorates, and these firms become the first to collapse. In other words, this is not a case of “all companies failing together,” but rather mid- and downstream, low-tech, labor-intensive, import-dependent businesses being crushed by the combined forces of tariffs, inflation, and high interest rates.
Did Trump’s Tariff Policy Disrupt the Market? Axun Calls It a “Survival Test”
Are Trump-era tariff policies responsible for the market turmoil? Axun argued that in practice, these tariffs have become a form of industrial screening. Tariff exemptions have largely favored the technology sector, especially AI-related companies, while low-tech industries have been left behind. High-tech sectors such as AI and semiconductors receive more exemptions and subsidies. Although imported raw materials and equipment are still affected by tariffs, policies are designed to help ease the burden for these industries.
In contrast, traditional manufacturing, transportation, and low-tech processing industries are forced to absorb tariff costs directly, with limited access to subsidies or exemptions.
Axun concluded that the 4.3% GDP growth figure is primarily driven by consumption from wealthier groups and aggressive corporate investment in AI. For lower-end sectors—low-tech industries, retail, and traditional manufacturing—the reality is unstable orders, rising costs, higher interest expenses, and increasingly frugal consumers. This explains why seemingly contradictory data coexist: bankruptcies at a 15-year high alongside GDP growth at a two-year high. The average figures boosted by AI investment and affluent consumers mask the accelerating elimination of traditional industries.
Axun emphasized that this phenomenon is not unique to the United States. Taiwan and the global economy are facing the same challenge. Traditional manufacturing, brick-and-mortar retail, and low-tech industries are being forced to take part in an invisible “survival-of-the-fittest” test amid rising costs and shifting demand.
