When President Donald Trump ’s “Liberation Day” tariffs first hit in April, the conventional dealmaking wisdom was that the mergers and acquisition market would get swamped in the trade war.

The outlook was just too uncertain and the expense of even the threat of tariffs was too high to make any kind of real bets on the future. Both strategic and financial buyers were expected to wait until the smoke cleared and then buy into whatever new market reality emerged.

But the market decided not to wait.

Investors last quarter felt good enough to go with their gut and bet on their own reality.

The result was fewer, but bigger, deals, according to KPMG’s second-quarter update on M&A trends in the consumer and retail space.

“Economic uncertainties and geopolitical challenges, such as tarif

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