Will Trump’s tariffs affect how Americans shop? Here’s what a new poll found

Most Americans believe tariffs will lead to higher prices — and, as a result, many have already changed how they shop, new polling reveals.

In the latest YouGov poll, 67% of respondents said they believe goods they typically purchase will increase in price due to “recent tariffs on foreign imports to the U.S.”

A much smaller share, 17%, said they believe prices will remain the same, while 4% said they think prices will go down and 13% said they were not sure.

The results were largely skewed by partisan affiliation, with 83% of Democrats saying prices will increase and just 50% of Republicans saying the same.

The poll — conducted with 3,320 respondents on Feb. 3 — comes two days after President Donald Trump imposed a 10% across-the-board tariff on goods from China. The country’s government quickly retaliated, imposing tariffs of up to 15% on U.S. oil, gas and coal, among other goods.

Trump also levied 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico, but later announced he would delay them by one month after the leaders of both countries made plans to boost their border security.

The poll also found that more than one-quarter of respondents, 27%, have already or plan to make purchases because they expect prices will rise.

However, a plurality, 44%, said they have not and do not plan to make adjustments to how they shop as a result of tariffs, and 29% said they were not sure.

Here, again, there were differences in responses based on partisanship, with 38% of Democrats and 23% of Republicans saying they have made or plan to make purchases on account of Trump’s tariffs.

Further, the poll asked respondents what they believed was Trump’s “primary motivation for imposing new tariffs on Canada” — tariffs which have since been paused.

A variety of answers were given. Twenty-one percent said the tariffs were imposed “to stop illegal immigration and drug trafficking,” while 14% said “to boost U.S. manufacturing.”

An additional 8% said the tariffs were issued “to raise funds for the federal government,” and 7% said “to reduce the U.S. trade deficit.”

Six percent of respondents said Trump levied the tariffs “to push for Canada to join the U.S.”

This story was originally published February 4, 2025 at 10:11 AM with the headline "Will Trump’s tariffs affect how Americans shop? Here’s what a new poll found."