Tariffs

Draft report prepared by Frank Newport, Resty Fufunan, Josearmando Torres, and Tiffany S. Neman.

First drafted: April 2026. Latest Draft: May 2026.

This report summarizes current American public opinion on tariff policy, using high-quality survey data focused on tariffs and related trade issues. As with most policy issues, public opinion about tariffs cannot be captured by a single poll question. Americans' views are complicated and contingent, so this report analyzes results across surveys and question wordings.

Where applicable, survey data were accessed through Roper iPoll, provided by the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research at Cornell University. Additional data were obtained from publicly available sources.

The sections that follow provide an Executive Summary, a review of Research Needs and Evidence Gaps, and summaries of key findings related to the four tariff subtopics.