As of the full month of July 2020, 68% of 25,000+ U.S. adults polled are concerned about the impact of recent trade policies and tariffs on their household expenses. This should come as no surprise as the numbers jumped – and have since stayed right at around 70% – since March (up from 63% in February). The pandemic is keeping consumers nervous about everything and anything that could impact their wallets.
While concern does appear to be trending a bit downward by just one or two percentage points, the numbers have hovered around their highest points ever since the global pandemic became a reality in America. If in the next reading concern drops significantly below March 2020 numbers, we’d be somewhat surprised.
However, as of July, fewer Americans are reporting actually noticing a difference when it comes to the impact on what they buy for their household. The number of Americans who reported buying less due to rising costs decreased by two percentage points, and the percentage of those who said they haven’t noticed any difference rose only slightly.
The percentage of Americans who are concerned about tariffs are much more likely than the non-concerned group to have lost their incomes due to the pandemic. They are also less likely to be out working in an office or other out-of-the-home work environment than the unconcerned group.
When it comes to how they have responded to reopenings across the U.S., a shocking majority (79%) of those who are concerned about tariffs didn’t resume normal activities, economy open or not.
In July, concern about tariffs goes up, incrementally, with age.
And just in case you wanted to see how personal political leanings fare, while those who consider themselves Conservative are the most likely to be not at all concerned, 46% of the group is still concerned. Interestingly, Liberals and Moderates report the same levels of concern, showing this isn’t a concern exclusive to the Left.
If it’s in the realm of money, and consumer’s bottom lines, concern about tariffs likely isn’t going away anytime soon, especially as the GDP declined by more than 30% last quarter and millions of Americans are out of work. CivicScience tracks economic indicators like this one, and hundreds more, in its database.