Nearly three-quarters of Americans predicted that President Trump’s tariffs would inflict short-term pain on the US economy before he announced a shocking 90-day pause on most levies, according to a new poll.
Among registered voters, 72% had predicted that the duties would do economic harm, with 53% fearing long-term negative repercussions as well, the Quinnipiac University survey released Wednesday found.
Only 22% believed that the tariffs would boost the economy in the short term, while 41% felt there would be a long-term benefit.
“A large majority of voters acknowledge the tariffs are delivering a bruising body blow to the economy in the near term. Will time reduce the pain? Some think it will, but a majority don’t envision that happening,” Quinnipiac University polling analyst Tim Malloy explained.
The survey was taken before Trump’s announcement Wednesday that he was pausing nearly all the planned reciprocal tariffs while retaining a 10% baseline rate for imports from most countries and ratcheting duties against China up to 125%.
Despite the angst over tariffs, opinions on Trump’s overall management of the economy had not changed much, Quinnipiac found.
Four in 10 voters approved of Trump’s stewardship while 55% disapproved — largely unchanged from March, when a poll found the split was 41% approval and 54% disapproval.
The survey also found that the 47th president is grappling with the same cost of living concerns that had haunted his predecessor, former President Joe Biden.
Top economic issues for voters were the prices of food and goods (47%), housing or rent (20%), the stock market (17%) and job security (6%), the poll found.
“In a rare moment of political unanimity, Democrats, Republicans and independents in equal numbers worry most about the prices of what they eat and what they buy,” Malloy added.
Another poll released Wednesday also found Trump’s much-hyped “Liberation Day” announcement of April 2 went over like a lead balloon with the public.
The YouGov/The Economist survey found that more than half of Americans (56%) said the tariff drive had “gone too far” while 62% said duties on imports should be decreased (34%) or kept the same (28%).
Only 36% of Americans approved of the reciprocal tariff plan while 52% disapproved and 53% predicted they would hurt the US economy. A majority of respondents (55%) also feared the duties would harm their financial well-being, while just 16% predicted they would help.
The Quinnipiac University poll was taken April 3–7 and sampled 1,407 registered voters with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 2.6 percentage points.
The YouGov/Economist survey sampled 1,741 US adults April 5–8, with a margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.1 percentage points.
