Most Americans are Worried and Disapprove of Trump on Trade

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Last updated on September 26th, 2018 at 12:27 pm

Although President Donald Trump on Monday prematurely bragged about a new trade agreement between the US and Mexico, nothing has really been accomplished yet. This is just one more example of how Trump makes announcements of his supposed accomplishments which simply are not true. There is no new trade deal with Mexico, just as there is no “denuclearization” of the Korean Peninsula.

Trump said he has undone NAFTA, but only Congress can do that. Trump said he is winning a trade war with China, but actual results say that Trump’s trade policies are hurting American farmers, businesses and consumers.

In short, most Americans are not happy with Trump’s policies on trade, which seem to have been formulated in between his shots on a golf course.

And now, a new poll has found that the majority of Americans disapprove of how the president has been handling trade negotiations with our allies and trading partners.

“Most disapprove of President Trump‘s handling of trade negotiations and are worried about the impact on the US, according to a new poll”

According to the poll, a mere 39% of American adults approve of how Trump has handled trade and tariff negotiations while 61% disapprove.

These results come from the AP-NORC poll that was conducted over the past week and released yesterday.

One of the most significant findings gleaned from the survey results is this: disapproval for Trump’s actions in the arena of trade negotiations has increased a full six percentage points since the last poll on the topic that was conducted in June of this year.

The AP Poll also shows that Americans are worried about the impact on the U.S. economy of Trump‘s imposed tariffs. It found that there is significant worry also about anticipated increases in the prices of consumer goods that will adversely affect American households, as well as businesses.

However, the poll found that the most important issue for most Americans when giving their opinions of trade agreements negotiated by the Trump administration with other countries is: jobs.

The effect on US jobs was said to be “extremely important” or “very important” by 81% of poll respondents.

Another three-fourths of survey participants said that the effect on US industries is “extremely important” or “very important” to trade negotiations. Just 68% thought the environmental impact was an issue of high consideration when negotiating trade.

Importantly, 39% said they thought Trump‘s tariffs will increase jobs in the United States while 34% said they will decrease jobs, so there is no agreement on the jobs issue. This is in contrast to the inflation/price issue where there is much more agreement, sinc fully 72% said that Trump’s tariffs will increase the price of consumer goods in the United States, and they are not happy about it.

Another issue where opinions are split concerns what the tariffs will do to the U.S. economy. Forty percent said that the tariffs will help the U.S. economy with slightly more — 44% — saying they will hurt the economy.

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Leo Vidal

I am a lifelong Democrat with a passion for social justice and progressive issues. I have degrees in writing, economics and law from the University of Iowa.