What do Americans think of Trump 'Liberation Day' tariffs? What a new poll found

Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald on Apr 3, 2025

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On Wednesday, President Donald Trump unveiled sweeping tariffs on dozens of countries that run trade surpluses with the United States, including major trading partners such as the European Union, China and Japan. He also imposed a minimum 10% tariff on all imports.

“This is one of the most important days, in my opinion, in American history,” Trump said in a speech in the Rose Garden. “It’s our declaration of economic independence.”

What has been the initial reaction from the American public? Far more negative than positive, according to new polling.

In a YouGov poll conducted shortly after Trump’s “Liberation Day” announcement, 51% of respondents said they either strongly (40%) or somewhat (11%) disapproved of the new tariffs. In contrast, about one-third of respondents, 34%, said they either strongly (15%) or somewhat (19%) approve of the new policy.

There were, however, strong partisan differences in the response to the president’s newly imposed tariffs, which are set to take effect Saturday.

Most Democrats and independents — 79% and 52%, respectively — said they disapproved, while most Republicans, 67%, said they approved.

The president’s recent barrage of tariffs comes after he already imposed 25% tariffs on imported steel, aluminum and automobiles. He also previously levied a 20% tariff on Chinese imports. He has said, through these actions, he hopes to remedy trade imbalances and restore U.S. manufacturing capacity.

Will tariffs raise prices?

The poll — which sampled 3,010 U.S. adults and has a margin of error of 2 percentage points — also asked respondents what effect they think Trump’s new tariffs will have on prices.

About two-thirds, 67%, said they believe they will cause the price of goods they typically purchase to increase. Meanwhile, 15% said they think prices will stay the same; 4% said they believe they will decrease and 15% said they weren’t sure.

Here, again, there were striking partisan differences.

The vast majority of Democrats and independents — 84% and 67%, respectively — said they think prices will now rise. In contrast, less than half of Republicans, 47%, said the same.

Many economists, meanwhile, are wary of widespread tariffs, predicting they will indeed result in higher prices for American consumers and lead to job losses.

Will Americans change their spending habits?

Additionally, the poll asked respondents if they will make purchases because they “expect prices will increase as a result of recent tariffs.”

A plurality, 49%, said they don’t plan on making any purchases as a result of the tariffs, while 20% said they do plan to and 31% said they weren’t sure.

On this question, there were subtler partisan differences.

Most Republicans, 58%, said they don’t intend to make any purchases on account of the tariffs, while pluralities of Democrats and independents — 44% and 47%, respectively — said the same.