The vast majority of Americans believe President Donald Trump’s tariff regime poses an acute threat to their personal finances, and more than half believe the United States economy is veering into dangerous territory.
A May survey of more than 1,000 U.S. shoppers revealed that 56 percent think that amid lingering inflation and macroeconomic and geopolitical turmoil, the country’s economy is headed in the wrong direction. Bankrate’s Consumer Sentiment Survey showed that nearly two in three consumers (65 percent) expect the duties on foreign-made products to have negative personal financial impacts.
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While inflation has been softening and Trump is pushing to solidify his first-term tax cuts before they expire at the end of 2025, shoppers are finding their personal experiences incongruous with the relief that’s been promised. In fact, 97 percent of survey takers said they had clocked higher prices over the past year on at least one area of spending, including groceries (91 percent), consumer products (52 percent), travel (40 percent) and personal care services (39 percent).
Tariffs are “[o]vershadowing any bright spots in the U.S. economy,” as economists point to the possibility that duties could usher in more inflation and even a recession. The administration’s current trade strategy, which centers on taxing imports from across the globe, is far more aggressive than the punitive duties Trump levied against China during his first term in office. In fact, tariffs incurred on global apparel imports this April reached their highest levels in decades.
“While tariffs are one of the president’s favorite policy tools, most Americans see higher taxes on imported goods as being a losing proposition for their personal finances,” wrote Bankrate senior economic analyst Mark Hamrick. “This, after they had previously identified inflation as the top economic issue of the 2024 presidential campaign.”
The consumer financial services company broke down responses by political party, and found that all shoppers surveyed were likely to say that tariff-centric trade policy would worsen their economic standing.
Perhaps not surprisingly, 91 percent of Democrats took that stance, though 62 percent of independents and 46 percent of Republicans said the same. Some 36 percent of Republicans said the opposite—that new duties could help pad their pocketbooks—along with just 13 percent of independents and 5 percent of Democrats.
Political ideologies play a big role in Americans’ perceptions of the country’s economy, Bankrate found. Even though tariffs are unpopular across the board, only Republican survey respondents were more likely to believe that the economy is on a favorable trajectory, at 58 percent. Meanwhile, just 17 percent of independents and 7 percent of Democrats said the same.
An overwhelming majority of Democrats (83 percent) said they believe the economy is taking an ominous turn, along with 58 percent of Independents. More than one-quarter (27 percent) of Republicans agreed, too.
Bankrate’s analysis noted that this breakdown is not entirely surprising; in October, before Trump was elected, 83 percent of Republicans believed the economy was on the wrong track, while 62 percent of independents and just 27 percent of Democrats agreed. That’s because many consumers tend to have a more optimistic view of the economy when their party is the one in charge.
Political affiliations have definite correlations with attitudes about the economy, so too do age and income, Bankrate’s research showed.
Younger shoppers—Gen Z and millennials, at 65 percent and 69 percent, respectively— believe that the Trump tariffs will be hard on their wallets. And notably, 68 percent of baby boomers are in alignment. Gen Xers were the most optimistic, with one-quarter of 45-to-60-year-olds believing that tariffs could improve their financial standing, though 60 percent still believe the contrary.
Consumers in the middle of the earning spectrum—those making between $75,000 and $99,999, to be exact—were the most likely to disdain the administration’s tariff strategy for its effects on their finances, at 70 percent. Americans who make less than $50,000 per year were closely aligned at 65 percent, and so were those making $100,000 or more at 68 percent.
Economists largely believe that tariffs stand only to help—or at least, not harm—high-income earners. Data shows that duties will disproportionately burden those earning less, as they’re likely to feel the pinch sooner. The Yale Budget Lab estimates that tariffs could raise average prices on goods by 1.5 percent, adding an effective annual tax of nearly $2,500 per American household.
