Trump Doubles Down on Tariffs Even as Voters Cry ‘Enough!’

It might look like Donald Trump has a favorite word these days – “tariff.” Even though the price tags at grocery stores and hardware aisles are creeping up, and trade experts are rolling their eyes, the president keeps raising the curtain on his latest round of import duties.

According to a fresh Gallup poll released less than a month before the Nov. 3 midterms, 64 % of U.S. adults say Trump has gone too far with his tariffs. That’s a jump from the 58 % who felt the same way back in January. In plain English, most voters aren’t buying the pitch that higher duties are somehow a win for America.

Still, the White House isn’t budging. After the Supreme Court knocked down his 1977‑law justification earlier this year, Trump has been scrambling for other legal avenues. The one he leans on now is Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 – a statute that lets the president slap duties on countries he claims are playing unfairly, whether that means lax enforcement of forced‑labour bans or other grievances.

The latest wave covers about 60 economies – from the European Union and Japan to India, Canada and Mexico – and tacks on rates that hover between 10 % and 12.5 %. Those numbers might look modest compared with the 25 %‑plus duties he levied on China a few years back, but they’re still the highest import taxes the U.S. has imposed on many of its biggest partners since the Great Depression.

Economists largely agree that the free‑trade system that’s been in place for decades helped keep consumer prices low, boosted growth, and let American firms stay competitive abroad. The United States remains the world’s second‑largest exporter, moving $3.4 trillion in goods and services last year – a full trillion more than Germany, which sits in third place.

That’s the theory, but the data tells a more nuanced story. Studies from the New York Federal Reserve and Harvard Business School show that foreign exporters rarely cut their prices to offset the duties. Instead, the cost is absorbed by U.S. importers or passed straight onto shoppers. In other words, it’s American families that are feeling the pinch, not foreign manufacturers.

Trump’s team counters that the tariff strategy is already paying off in the form of a manufacturing resurgence. White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers points to a modest rise in factory‑construction jobs, arguing that today’s building projects will translate into more production jobs once the plants are up and running.

Critics note that the last two decades have seen a steep decline in U.S. manufacturing – roughly three million jobs vanished after China joined the World Trade Organization in 2001. Many companies simply couldn’t compete with the flood of low‑priced Chinese goods, leading to plant closures and off‑shoring.

It’s also worth mentioning that the United States isn’t the only player pulling levers. Some of its rivals keep their own tariff walls low, or even use currency manipulation and subsidies to make their exports cheaper for American buyers. Before the current dispute, the average U.S. duty on European Union goods was about 1.5 %, barely above the EU’s 1.35 % tariff on U.S. products. Canada’s rate on U.S. imports sat around 2.4 % – less than half of the 5 % the U.S. was charging Canadian goods.

Now, though, the north‑south relationship has devolved into a tit‑for‑tat scenario, with both sides hiking tariffs in retaliation. The fallout is palpable for farmers, auto manufacturers and anyone who relies on cross‑border supply chains.

As the midterm election looms, the tariff debate could become a deciding factor for swing voters who are already feeling higher prices at the checkout. Whether Trump’s gamble will translate into electoral votes, or simply cement a legacy of “trade wars forever,” remains to be seen.