More than 80 percent of Americans fear their finances will take a hit from the Trump administration’s tariffs, according to the latest Yahoo! Finance/Marist Poll.
In the survey, conducted in late May, 39 percent of U.S. adults say they’re “very concerned” and 41 percent say they’re “somewhat concerned” about the impact of tariffs on their personal finances, while only 19 percent say they’re either “not very” or “not at all” concerned — at 13 percent and 6 percent, respectively.
The concern prevails across party lines and demographics.
Nearly all Democrats, at 93 percent, worry about the personal ramifications of President Trump’s tariffs. But a majority of Republicans and independents — at 70 percent and 79 percent, respectively — say they’re worried, as well.
There is very little difference in the way generations perceive the threat of tariffs on their finances. Eighty-three percent of both Generation Z and Millennials express personal concern about tariffs, compared to 82 percent of Generation X and 75 percent of the combined group of Baby Boomers, Silent Generation and Greatest Generation.
Asked to pick a single economic issue that is most concerning to them “right now,” tariffs were the second most popular answer, following inflation. Inflation received the most votes, with 42 percent of respondents, followed by tariffs at 22 percent, housing costs at 13 percent, job security at 8 percent, and interest rates and stock market volatility each at 6 percent.
The poll was conducted less than two months after Trump announced his sweeping “reciprocal” tariffs on individual countries, which sent the stock market tumbling. A week later, he instituted a 90-day pause to allow countries to negotiate with the United States to get a better deal. That extension is due to expire on Wednesday, and the president said he sent letters to numerous countries informing them of his intention to hike up tariff rates by Aug. 1 if they don’t strike a deal sooner.
The poll was conducted May 28-31 and included 2,011 adults. The margin of error is 2.4 percentage points.
