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Majority of Americans oppose tariffs on Chinese goods, Pew survey shows

In Pew Research Centre poll, conducted before ‘Liberation Day’, 52 per cent of respondents say duties on Chinese imports hurt the US

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US President Donald Trump showing a chart of tariffs  during his “Liberation Day” announcement. Photo: Reuters
Bochen Hanin Washington

Opposition to tariffs on imports from US allies like Canada may be unsurprising. But a majority of Americans – including nearly a quarter of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents – also believe tariffs on Chinese goods hurt the US, according to a survey released on Tuesday.

According to the Pew Research Centre poll, 52 per cent of Americans think that the tariffs will negatively affect the country, while 24 per cent think they will have a positive impact. A quarter think they will not have any effect or are unsure.

Conducted from March 24 through 30, the survey of 1,801 American adults occurred after the Donald Trump administration had already imposed two rounds of 10 per cent tariffs on Chinese imports.

But it came before Trump announced additional tariffs of 34 per cent as part of a larger “Liberation Day” package last week, Beijing’s 34 per cent retaliatory tariffs, or the threat Trump made of another 50 per cent levies on Monday.

The findings are “tacking against the narrative” that tariffs on Chinese imports are good for Americans, said Jack Zhang, a political scientist at the University of Kansas, and reflect growing public awareness of the effects of tariffs.

“The media coverage has broken through the kind of filter bubbles that we normally live in … people actually know how it’s going to hurt their livelihoods,” Zhang, who was not involved in the Pew survey, said.

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