President Trump Is Headed Toward a Tariff Backlash
FEB 28, 2025 | President Donald Trump’s pledge to enact sweeping 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico begins this Tuesday, March 4. While Trump’s team has used the threat of tariffs to extract concessions from foreign adversaries and allies alike, the notion of open trade war with America’s neighbors remains an unpopular one with most Americans, according to a new poll from Public First.
“This has a lot of potential to backfire on President Trump as his favorability gap shrinks” said Stephen Kent of the Consumer Choice Center, an international consumer advocacy group. “Americans certainly elected Donald Trump to reassert US strength around the world and to be extra pushy, but when only 28% of Americans express support for tariffs on Canadian imports it goes to show that American voters don’t see Canada as being an opponent of any kind.”
Asked why support for tariffs on Mexico is slightly more popular, with 35% of adults supportive, roughly ten percent above views about tariffs on Canada, Kent said,
“It’s pretty clear 2024 was an immigration election and Americans wanted to see Mexico brought to the table on restricting northbound migration and fentanyl trafficking. When Mexican President Sheinbaum put 10,000 more troops on the border in exchange for a delay of tariffs, that was the point.
But Americans still know that tariffs are ultimately a tax on their lifestyle and shopping lists.”
President Trump’s tariff threats have already injected uncertainty into markets and supply chains. After pausing the tariffs in February, the administration’s indecisiveness created confusion for businesses that rely on predictable trade policies. Imposing the 25% tariffs will only escalate tensions, raise consumer prices and distract from Americans’ top concern of trade imbalance with China.
Polling data from Public First, shared with POLITICO, underscores that tariffs are vastly more popular when it comes to China, with 45 percent of respondents supporting them versus 30 percent opposed.
“Americans aren’t going to like the result of tariffs on Chinese imports any more than they like the cost increases for basic car repairs in the US after 25% tariffs hit Canada, but the difference is that Donald Trump’s entire political career was based on renegotiating relations with China, not Canada,” added Stephen Kent of the Consumer Choice Center. “If these tariffs go into effect on March 4, I’d expect them to be short-lived. Trump likes to do popular things, and trade war in North America is already unpopular. Americans want to poke fun and enjoy some nationalistic fun when watching hockey games between Canada and the US, not when they’re shopping or trying to fill up their car.”
The Consumer Choice Center’s staff in Canada, Europe, and the US call on the Trump Administration to help make America and its allies prosperous by rejecting trade barriers which limit consumer freedom and purchasing power. Tariffs are not the way.
FOR MEDIA QUERIES OR INTERVIEWS PLEASE CONTACT:
Stephen Kent
Consumer Choice Center
stephen@consumerchoicecenter.org
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The Consumer Choice Center is an independent, nonpartisan consumer advocacy group championing the benefits of freedom of choice, innovation, and abundance in everyday life for consumers in over 100 countries. We closely monitor regulatory trends in Washington, Brussels, Ottawa, Brasilia, London, and Geneva. Find out more at www.consumerchoicecenter.org.
