Do Americans support imposing tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada? What poll found

Last month, President-elect Donald Trump vowed to impose tariffs on America’s three largest trading partners: China, Canada and Mexico. These proposals have proved to be quite unpopular, recent polling reveals.

In a Nov. 25 post on Truth Social, Trump said that on his first day in office he will issue an executive order levying a 25% tariff on all goods from Mexico and Canada.

“This Tariff will remain in effect until such time as Drugs, in particular Fentanyl, and all Illegal Aliens stop this Invasion of our Country,” he wrote.

In a separate post, Trump said he would issue “an additional 10% Tariff” on all goods from China, which would stay in place until its government cracks down on the illicit trade of drugs to the U.S.

What a new poll found

In a Quinnipiac University poll conducted between Dec. 12-16, a slight majority of respondents, 51%, said they were against levying tariffs on imports from those three countries.

Meanwhile, 38% said they supported the proposed tariffs, according to the poll, which sampled 924 voters nationwide and has a margin of error of 3.2 percentage points.

“Will tariffs targeting foreign countries … end up hurting Americans at home? The numbers could suggest that’s exactly what voters fear will happen,” Tim Malloy, a Quinnipiac University polling analyst, said in a news release on Dec. 18.

There were, however, significant differences in opinions among various demographic groups — with the largest divide forming along partisan lines.

The vast majority of Republicans, 76%, said they supported Trump’s proposed tariffs, while just 7% of Democrats and 34% of independents said the same.

White respondents were also significantly more likely to support tariffs (44%) than Hispanic (30%) and Black respondents (14%).

Further, nearly half of men, 47%, said they were in favor of the proposed tariffs. In contrast, 30% of women said the same.

Additionally, there was a noticeable divide along educational lines.

A majority of white voters with a four-year college degree, 59%, said they opposed the tariffs. Meanwhile, 53% of white voters without a four-year degree supported the president-elect’s proposals.

This story was originally published December 26, 2024 at 10:27 AM with the headline "Do Americans support imposing tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada? What poll found."