Coinciding with a nice holiday uptick in economic confidence among Americans is the continued decline in their concern over trade deals and tariffs. As we found last month, trade talks between the United States and China appear to be easing the minds of Americans, and that’s still the case. The most recent reading from December shows concern is down two percentage points from November, the lowest it’s been since July 2019.
Impact on household spending is statistically stagnant, with just as many noticing costs rising and buying less as a result.
Age, urbanicity, and political affiliation showed no significant changes among those concerned about tariffs from the last reading. Notably, the age buckets and political identities of those concerned and not concerned stayed the same.
Interestingly, people didn’t let tariffs decide their holiday budget one way or the other. People who reported going over budget this holiday are just as likely to be concerned about tariffs as people who stayed with theirs (or even who spent less).
With the signing of the phase-one trade deal between the U.S. and China reportedly imminent, this threat hanging over the global economy has diminished, at least a bit, and so have Americans’ concerns.
