A majority of Americans said in a new survey they expect higher prices because of the sweeping global tariffs President Trump that fully took effect on Wednesday.
In a three-day poll, conducted by Reuters/Ipsos this past weekend, 73 percent of Americans said prices would increase over the next six months for “the items you buy every day.”
Similar shares of respondents said the same for a variety of specific goods: 77 percent said they expect higher prices for electronics and phones, 73 percent for automobiles, 72 percent for household appliances, 70 percent for fresh produce, 62 percent for home repairs and improvements, and 56 percent for dairy items such as milk and cheese.
The respondents were told tariffs of at least 10 percent on goods imported into the U.S. would go into effect over the weekend and asked whether they expect “costs for you personally will increase, decrease, or not change at all in the next six months,” for each of the categories listed.
A majority of respondents across the political spectrum said they expect prices to increase in most categories, but more Democrats and independents expect higher prices than did Republicans.
A slim majority — 56 percent — of Republicans said they expect prices to increase for “the items you buy every day,” while 89 percent of Democrats and 78 percent of independents held this view.
Two-thirds of Republicans, 66 percent, expect higher prices for electronics and phones, while 62 percent expect higher prices for automobiles, 60 percent expect higher prices for household appliances, and 53 percent expect higher prices for fresh produce.
Less than half, 43 percent, of Republicans expect higher prices for home repairs, and a third, 33 percent, expect higher prices for dairy items.
Trump in recent days has defended the tariffs, even as the stock market delivers consecutive losses and countries retaliate with their own tariffs on U.S. imports.
“BE COOL! Everything is going to work out well. The USA will be bigger and better than ever before!” Trump wrote on Truth Social Wednesday.
The poll was conducted Friday to Sunday and included 1,027 respondents. The overall margin of error is 3.2 percentage points.