Despite President Trump’s assertions that his tariff policies will ultimately prove successful and popular, a significant majority of respondents in a new survey indicate disapproval of those policies.
Released by the Pew Research Center, the survey shows that 59% of respondents opposed the Trump administration tariff increases, while only 39% registered support.
The tariff question, according to the survey, has taken on a distinct partisan hue, with 70% of responding Republicans indicating support, while a commanding 90% of Democrat respondents said they were opposed.
Even more, some 51% said they thought the President was setting too much policy via executive orders, with 32% indicating that they were fine with either the amount of such orders or supportive of even more.
Trump announced a sweeping series of tariff policies earlier this month, declaring a 10% baseline tax on imports across the board and tariffs of varying sizes on different countries, including a 34% tax on China imports, which has since been increased, 20% tariff on imports from the European Union, and 24% increase on Japanese imports.
Overall, 45% of all respondents expressed confidence in Trump’s ability to handle the economy; a drop from an earlier survey putting that figure at 54%.
A narrative accompanying the survey noted that 56% of respondents in early 2021 said they were confident that President Biden could make good decisions about the economy, a figure that declined to 36% in late 2023.
April 24, 2025
By Garry Boulard
