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How Americans view Trump’s handling of trade and tariffs

Pew Research Center · Maria Smerkovich and Drew DeSilver · last updated

Nearly six-in-ten U.S. adults are not confident that Trump can make good decisions about trade policy. Views of trade between the U.S. and China, Canada and Mexico have shifted since 2025.

It’s been a year since President Donald Trump announced widespread tariffs on many U.S. trading partners, a move he billed as “Liberation Day.” Today, a majority of Americans are skeptical of his handling of the issue: Nearly six-in-ten adults (58%) are not too or not at all confident that Trump can make good decisions about U.S. trade policy, and 63% express little or no confidence in his handling of tariff policy, according to a new Pew Research Center survey.

The survey also shows that Americans’ attitudes toward trade relations with the United States’ top three trading partners – China, Canada and Mexico – have shifted somewhat since last year.

 

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