Over the past four months, Americans have been concerned about tariffs at a higher rate than months past. For the month of June, we observed the same trend. Statistically, things have not moved drastically.
In June of 2020, 69% of American adults polled are at least somewhat concerned about the impact of tariffs on their household expenses. This is just shy of where it was in March (68%) as the pandemic picked up in the United States. It’s fluctuated somewhere in the 68%-71% range since.
Consider that, when comparing this to concern about tariffs a year ago, when CivicScience began tracking the topic, things have increased pretty dramatically. In June of 2019, 61% of American adults were at least somewhat concerned about tariffs, so eight percentage points lower than it is now, in June 2020.
The actual impact of such trade policies and tariffs on individuals’ household spending hasn’t budged since last month either. It remains higher than it was pre-COVID-19. Twenty-eight percent of Americans surveyed say they’re buying less than they used to because prices are higher. This was the same in May, and is significantly higher than it was in March (24%).
A year ago this number was at 19%. Again, a pretty significant shift among the general population.
With surges in coronavirus cases across the country accounting for the highest number of cases since the pandemic started, more people are concerned about being out in public, their job security, and the state of things to come.
People concerned about their jobs due to the pandemic are more likely to be concerned about tariffs.
The same can be said for fear of being in public spaces. Which, according to CivicScience data, is on the rise again.
Ultimately, money definitely factors into the concern. Americans in the lowest income bracket are more likely to be concerned about tariffs than the general population in the timeframe since the pandemic started in the US.
The concern among the majority of Americans about tariffs correlates highly with consumer economic sentiment, which continued to decline in the latest CivicScience reading. Tariff data will continue to be tracked and reported on monthly.
