A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll indicates that over half of registered voters (56%) are more inclined to support a presidential candidate who endorses United States tariffs on all foreign imports – a policy proposed by former President Donald Trump. The same survey also reveals that only 41% of respondents would be less likely to back such a candidate.
The poll unveils that swing voters, as well as one-third of Democrat voters, are more likely to support candidates who promote higher tariffs. Interestingly, this plan has been proposed by Trump, but Kamala Harris, the current Vice President, criticized it, misrepresenting it as a “national sales tax.
During the Democrat National Convention (DNC), Harris used claims from a libertarian free-trade organization to attack Trump’s tariff plan. She suggested that more tariffs would spur inflation, echoing concerns raised by Chinese executives who also believe Trump’s proposed tariffs are detrimental for both countries.
Last week, Chinese economist Hao Hong with GROW Investment Group argued that Trump’s proposed tariffs are a “lose-lose” proposition for the United States and China. He claimed that if a 100% tariff were imposed on Chinese exports, it would significantly raise U.S. inflation levels. However, research consistently demonstrates that current inflation is not directly linked to the U.S. increasing tariffs on imports in recent years.
Economic Policy Institute (EPI) researchers write that the timing of the tariffs shows no correlation with inflation, and eliminating them would not reasonably restrain it. The majority of the tariffs were already in place before 2020, yet inflation only began to accelerate in March 2021. This clearly indicates that various factors, not just tariffs, contributed to inflation.