Donald Trump’s campaign vow to increase tariffs on imported goods, particularly from China, has the support of a narrow majority of US voters, illustrating his economic advantage over rival Vice President Kamala Harris, a new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows.
The Republican former president and his Democratic opponent have both vowed to pursue tax cuts if they win the November 5 election. But voters also credit Trump with being more likely to lower the $35 trillion national debt — even though independent economic forecasters say his proposals would have the opposite effect.
Some 56 percent of registered voters in the September 11-12 poll said they were more likely to support a candidate backing a new 10 percent tariff, or tax, on all imports, as well as a 60 percent tariff on imports from China. By comparison, 41 percent said they were less likely to support a candidate attached to that proposal.
The poll showed Harris with an overall 5-percentage-point lead over Trump nationally, though the US presidential race will largely be decided in about seven battleground states.
The poll details Trump’s strengths on a key issue, the US economy. “This is what’s keeping the election so close,” said Karlyn Bowman, a polling expert at the conservative American Enterprise Institute.
Bowman said Trump’s advantage flows from a perception the economy did well during his 2017-2021 administration, and from his success convincing voters US economic problems stemmed from underhanded economic competition from other countries, notably China.
The poll found one in three Democrats said they were more likely to vote for a candidate backing higher tariffs and steep levies on Chinese goods, compared with two-thirds who said they were less likely to do so.
Until the Covid-19 pandemic ravaged the global economy in 2020, the US economy by many measures performed well during the Trump administration, boosted by tax cuts for consumers. Unemployment was at its lowest in decades, although the national debt was rising and would explode during the pandemic.
