{"id":229,"date":"2026-02-04T16:28:00","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/the-u-s-publics-view-of-trump-tariffs-was-negative-at-the-start-few-if-any-minds-have-changed-since\/"},"modified":"2026-02-04T16:28:00","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:28:00","slug":"the-u-s-publics-view-of-trump-tariffs-was-negative-at-the-start-few-if-any-minds-have-changed-since","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wokeantifa.org\/topics\/the-u-s-publics-view-of-trump-tariffs-was-negative-at-the-start-few-if-any-minds-have-changed-since\/","title":{"rendered":"The U.S. public\u2019s view of Trump tariffs was negative at the start. Few if any minds have changed since."},"content":{"rendered":"\r\n

FACT: Most Americans disliked higher tariffs a year ago, and few minds have changed since.<\/h2>\n

THE NUMBERS: CNN\/SSRS surveys on Trump tariffs \u2013<\/h3>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
<\/td>\n\u201cDisapprove\u201d<\/td>\n\u201cApprove\u201d<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
January 2026<\/td>\n62%<\/td>\n37%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
July 2025<\/td>\n61%<\/td>\n39%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
March 2025<\/td>\n61%<\/td>\n39%<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

CNN\/SSRS surveys in\u00a0<\/em>March 2025<\/a>,\u00a0July 2025<\/a>, and\u00a0January 2026<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

WHAT THEY MEAN:\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Pollsters have been pestering Americans about trade and tariffs since the 1950s, but probably never as much as last year. Since the Trump administration\u2019s first\u00a0tariff decrees<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 last February 1, a\u00a0year ago last Sunday \u2014 our probably incomplete count finds CNN\/SSRS and Washington Post\/ABC asking about tariffs three times each, the Pew Center twice, Fox News six times, NYT\/Siena three times, the Wall Street Journal four, with Gallup, AP, the Economist and Reuters adding lots more. With their national data has come a gush of previously rare polling on tariff attitudes in individual states. The resulting mass of stats conveys a pretty simple message: Most Americans disliked higher tariffs a year ago, and few minds have changed since.<\/p>\n

A summary with national averages, crosstabs, and states \u2013<\/p>\n

1. National:<\/strong>\u00a0National polls suggest that (a) more than 60% of Americans disapprove of Mr. Trump\u2019s tariffs, (b) a bit fewer than 40% support them, and (c) the most recent results look like the earliest ones. The CNN\/SSRS figures above are pretty close to the overall average, but see below (\u201cFurther Reading\u201d) to compare them with\u00a0Washington Post\/ABC<\/a>,\u00a0Fox News<\/a>, and\u00a0New York Times\/Siena<\/a>.<\/p>\n

2. Crosstabs:\u00a0<\/strong>Within this broad opposition, polling finds some consistent divisions of opinion. Three especially striking ones (and see \u201cFurther Reading\u201d for two more):<\/p>\n

Red v. Blue:<\/em>\u00a0Democrats nearly unanimously opposes, Republicans strongly but less enthusiastically support, and independents pretty decisively take the \u201cblue\u201d side. Fox News\u2019\u00a0January survey<\/a>, for example, reports opposition at 92%-8% among Democrats and 82%-18% among political independents, while Republicans approve by 71%-28%. At the state level, Bowling Green State\u2019s\u00a0October Ohio poll<\/a>\u00a0has an exceptionally sharp partisan split: within Ohioans\u2019 overall 60%-40% disapproval, Democrats oppose the tariffs 97%-3%, and their independent neighbors oppose 83%-16%, while Republicans support 77%-23%.<\/p>\n

Race & Ethnicity:<\/em>\u00a0African Americans are most opposed to tariffs, white Americans are most closely divided (though with anti-tariff majorities), and Hispanics are in between. For example, this January\u2019s\u00a0NYT\/Siena<\/a>\u00a0poll (which seems to get the friendliest results for the administration) found white Americans opposing tariffs 51%-43%, African Americans 66%-25%, Hispanics 50%-29%, and \u201cothers\u201d 63%-32%. Fox, meanwhile, had white Americans \u201cdisapproving\u201d 61%-39%, African Americans 74%-26%, and Hispanics 67%-33%. Data on Asian American views is scarcer, but an\u00a0AP poll last July<\/a>\u00a0showed Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders significantly more likely than Americans as a whole to believe tariffs would likely reduce job opportunities and raise prices, and the Pew Center\u2019s\u00a0April poll<\/a>\u00a0found 70%-28% Asian American \u201cdisapproval\u201d of tariff increases. (We haven’t found a Native American survey, but try\u00a0Native Voice One<\/a>‘s\u00a0in-depth radio discussion.)<\/p>\n

Education<\/em>: The education gap is a bit narrower, but socially illuminating.\u00a0January\u2019s\u00a0NYT\/Siena poll<\/a>\u00a0finds Americans with college degrees opposing tariffs by a very wide 65%-31% margin, and non-college Americans by a much narrower 48%-42%. The widest gulf is among white Americans: a 50%-43% plurality of non-college white respondents support the administration\u2019s tariffs, while white Americans with college degrees oppose them by 63%-34%. NYT\u2019s (very aggregated) \u201cnon-white\u201d respondents are less sharply divided, with \u201cnon-college non-white\u201d respondents opposing tariffs by 53%-30% and college degree holders by 72%-20%.<\/p>\n

3. States:\u00a0<\/strong>State polls add depth on regional opinion, and often ask distinctive questions that yield unexpected insights. Three examples (and more below):<\/p>\n

New Hampshire:<\/em>\u00a0Relative importance of tariffs<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 The University of New Hampshire\u2019s\u00a0November<\/a>\u00a0poll provides a sense of the priority the public gives tariffs as an economic issue. Overall, 45% of their respondents approved of Mr. Trump\u2019s economic management, while 54% disapproved. Among the “approving” minority, 27% cited tariffs as the most important reason for their good review. This was a higher share than any other issue got, and another 3% added \u201ctrade.\u201d But an even larger 38% of the majority “disapprovers” cited tariffs as the most important factor in their opinion. So the New Hampshire public appears to agree that tariffs are very important, but on balance\u00a0feels they\u2019re important in a bad way.<\/p>\n

Ohio:<\/em>\u00a0Tariff effects by economic class, business type, and unions<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 Bowling Green State University has polled Ohio twice, first in\u00a0April<\/a>\u00a0and then in\u00a0October<\/a>. This went beyond broad approve\/disapprove totals (60% disapproving and 40% approving in October, with 44% \u201cstrongly\u201d disapproving and 18% \u201cstrongly\u201d approving) to ask about the sort of people, institutions, and businesses who might benefit from tariffs. The answers suggest Ohioans developed an increasingly \u201cun-populist\u201d view of tariff impacts over the year. In April, 42% of respondents thought tariffs would help labor unions; by October, the share had fallen to 34. The share feeling tariffs might help small businesses likewise dropped from 41% to 35%, and those believing tariffs would help \u201cthe middle class\u201d dropped from 42% to 36%. Meanwhile, the shares believing tariffs would benefit \u201cthe wealthy\u201d and \u201clarge corporations\u201d rose from 66% to 73% and from 60% to 67%<\/p>\n

Texas: Levels of consensus on family finances, prices, and jobs<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 A\u00a0December 2025 poll<\/a>\u00a0by the UT\/Austin\u2019s Texas Policy Project reports that 52% of respondents believe tariffs \u201cwill hurt my family,\u201d while 20% think they will help, and 28% aren\u2019t sure. Perceptions on price impacts were near-consensus: 67% believe tariffs are raising prices for \u201ceveryday goods,\u201d while 9% think they\u2019re lowering prices, and 25% weren\u2019t sure. Guesses about job impact were most divided, with 42% feeling that tariffs mean fewer jobs for U.S. workers, while 29% predicted more jobs, and 29% didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

FURTHER READING<\/strong><\/h3>\n

PPI\u2019s\u00a0four principles<\/a>\u00a0for response to tariffs and economic isolationism:<\/p>\n