Americans Doubt Trump’s Trade War Will Benefit Them
How are the Trump administration’s trade negotiations doing at the moment? Not well, it appears. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent warns that China could lose 10 million jobs if it doesn’t lower tariffs—which means the standoff with that country’s government continues. Canada just elected a prime minister who wants to pretend that his North American country and its economy are part of Europe (it only is in a shared disdain for free speech). And Americans are, frankly, unconvinced that the U.S. president’s antifreedom protectionism will do anything but make them poorer.
A Skeptical Majority
“Americans are widely skeptical about the benefits of the recent tariffs the Trump administration has imposed on the United States’ trading partners, with majorities believing they will ultimately cost the U.S. more money than they generate — in the short term (70%) as well as the long run (62%),” reports Gallup of the results of recent polling.
Importantly, 89 percent of respondents think higher tariffs are very (66 percent) or somewhat (23 percent) likely to raise consumer prices. Majorities of those surveyed from both major parties agree on that point. That’s a huge deal after the disruptive inflation that helped to do in the Biden administration and Democratic presidential hopeful Kamala Harris. Voters who fired one president over policies that sent the cost of living soaring won’t be pleased if his successor disappoints them over the same concern.
Besides criticizing Biden and Harris over inflation, Trump also blamed them for letting the manufacturing sector erode. He partially justified high tariffs with the argument that they will revive domestic manufacturing and create jobs.
“The country gained 10,000 manufacturing jobs in President Trump’s first full month in office — a swift turnaround after losing an average of 9,000 manufacturing jobs per month, or 111,000 total, in the final year of the Biden Administration,” the White House boasted March 7.
But only 49 percent of those surveyed by Gallup agree that the trade war will bring about a rebirth of manufacturing jobs, with 25 percent considering that very likely and 24 percent saying it’s somewhat likely. About half s
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