President Trump’s tariffs are making Americans more stressed and causing them to rethink their spending plans, according to a new Yahoo News/YouGov poll.
Earlier this month, Trump announced sweeping tariffs on imports from nearly every foreign country. Most of those are currently on pause, but high rates on some of America’s most important trading partners — including a whopping 145% levy on goods from China — are still in effect.
In a survey of 1,597 adults conducted from April 25 to 28, 55% of respondents said that the president’s tariff plan is making them feel more stress, and 59% said they are more anxious about their finances than they were a year ago.
Americans are already feeling the strain of elevated prices after years of stubbornly high inflation, and most expect Trump’s tariffs to only make things worse. More than two-thirds of respondents said the tariffs will make things more expensive for them personally. Between current high prices and concerns that tariffs will drive them up even further, nearly three-quarters (73%) said they are either somewhat or very worried about being able to afford groceries.
Message on tariffs not breaking through
Trump has persistently argued that, while the tariffs may cause some short-term pain, the country will ultimately be better off in the long run because they will free the U.S. from what he views as “decades of abuse” at the hands of the existing global trade system.
Part of that message has resonated, at least with some Americans. Roughly half of respondents (49%) agreed with Trump’s arguments that the tariffs will force other countries to cut better trade deals with the U.S. and compel companies to make more of their products in America.
Still, most Americans believe that those potential benefits aren’t worth the harm the tariffs are likely to cause. A majority (58%) said they think the tariffs will have a negative impact on the U.S. economy in the short term. There was slightly more optimism about the long-term effects, but the largest share of respondents (46%) still said that the tariffs will cause more harm than good.
The survey also listed a range of issues and asked respondents to mark the ones they consider to be a threat to America’s future. Tariffs were the third most frequently cited threat, just behind China. “Cost of living” was ranked at the top of that list, likely in part because of concerns about the tariffs.
Changing habits
Most Americans say they are adjusting their spending habits to account for inflation and the looming risk of tariff-related price hikes.
More than three quarters (77%) of respondents said that rising grocery prices are affecting what they buy, and almost two-thirds say they have changed where they shop in response. A strong majority (69%) said they are cutting back on nonessential spending on things like toys, clothing and beauty products. Exactly half added that they are rethinking their plans around bigger purchases like a phone, vacation or car.
Trump’s voters are less worried
There were huge partisan differences in the responses to just about every question surrounding the tariffs. For example, 87% of Democrats said the tariffs would make things more expensive for them personally, compared to 55% of Republicans. Democrats were also significantly more likely to say they are cutting their spending (81% vs. 60%) and reconsidering future large purchases (63% vs. 42%). When it comes to the long-term effect of the tariffs, GOP voters are much more likely to say they will have a positive impact (70%) compared to Democrats (6%).
Some of the biggest gaps were found in the emotional response to the tariffs. The vast majority of Democrats (87%) said the tariffs are making them more stressed. Just 29% of Republicans said the same. Republicans were also half as likely to say they are feeling more anxious about their finances than they were a year ago (80% vs. 37%).
Overall, though, public opinion is solidly against Trump’s tariffs, with 57% saying he has “gone too far” in trying to reshape America’s trade relationship with the world. Discontent with Trump’s handling of the economy has helped push his approval rating down to the lowest level ever recorded after the first 100 days of a president’s term.
