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Updated on Jul 28, 2025
Updates monthly

Tracking U.S. Consumers' Views on Tariffs

A comprehensive look at U.S. consumers’ attitudes, including topline support, inflation expectations, spending behavior, corporate messaging and political sentiment
The share of U.S. consumers who say they are spending more or less on purchases in each of the following categories because of tariff-related price increases:
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The trend chart reflects those who say their spending has increased.

Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,200 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

While the details have changed quickly, President Trump has made tariffs a centerpiece of his administration’s policy toolkit, creating risks for U.S. consumers and companies alike. This tracker uses proprietary Morning Consult survey data to comprehensively monitor U.S. consumers’ attitudes surrounding the tariffs, including awareness and support, inflation expectations and spending behavior, and corporate blame. The tracker updates monthly. The latest data comes from a survey conducted July 10-14, 2025, among roughly 2,200 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Key Takeaways

  • The support for tariffs among adults declined compared to June. While support among Republicans rose, it fell among Democrats and Independents. However, awareness of tariffs remains high.

  • The majority (51%) of adults believe that tariffs are bad for the economy, while only 32% think they are good. These percentages have not changed much since May 2025. Similarly, 49% of adults believe that tariffs are bad for their household finances, with 22% having no opinion and 29% believing that tariffs are good for their household finances. Gen Z has become less likely to think tariffs will be good for the economy and for their personal finances, while wealthy consumers are the least concerned about the effect on their finances.

  • 51% of adults believe that tariffs on imported goods are a major factor in rising inflation, and 22% believe that they are a minor factor. Unsurprisingly,  43% are very concerned about the price of essential products, and 40% are similarly worried about their ability to save.

  • Most U.S. consumers believe that companies will pass on the cost of tariffs; however, the percentage of those who believe that the entire cost will be passed on has dropped from 33% to 30%.

  • Mirroring reporting on it now being Trump’s economy, even Republicans are now more likely than before to blame President Trump for any price increases they attribute to tariffs.

Data Downloads

Pro+ subscribers are able to download the datasets that underpin Morning Consult Pro's reports and analysis. Contact us to get access.

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A trended, sortable XLSX data file covering public opinion on tariffs in the United States.
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Data dashboard
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Excel Dashboard Interactive charts in xlsx format.
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Tariff timeline

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Approval & Awareness

U.S. consumers’ approval of tariffs

Net approval by generation, income and political affiliation
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“Net approval” is the share of each demographic who say they approve of tariffs minus the share who disapprove.
Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers' awareness of tariffs

The share of U.S. adults who say they have seen, read, or heard “a lot” or “some” about tariffs or tariff proposals recently
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

 

Economic Impact & Cost Pass-Through

U.S. consumers' views of tariffs' effects on the economy

The share of U.S. consumers who believe U.S. tariffs have been good or bad for the economy
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers' views of tariffs' effects on the economy

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The net share is those who say tariffs have been very or somewhat good for the economy minus those who say they have been very or somewhat bad.

Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers' views of tariffs' effects on their household finances

The share of U.S. consumers who believe U.S. tariffs have been good or bad for their household finances
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers' views of tariffs' effects on their household finances

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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers' tariff concerns

The share of U.S. consumers who say they are concerned about each of the following due to tariffs:
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Shares for "Not concerned” and “not too concerned" are not displayed. The trend chart shows the sum of “Very concerned” and “Somewhat concerned”.

Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers’ expectations that companies will pass along tariff costs

The share of U.S. consumers who believe companies will pass on the costs of tariffs
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Shares for "Don't know/No opinion" are not shown.

Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers' expectations for how much of the tariffs' costs U.S. companies will pass on

The share of U.S. consumers who say companies will pass along the following percentages of tariff-related costs:
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Responses are assessed among those who said they expect tariffs to cause inflation. The trend chart shows the share who say companies will pass on all of the cost
Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

 

Inflation & Consumer Spending

U.S. consumers' tariff-driven inflation perceptions

The share of U.S. consumers noticing higher prices for select categories due to tariffs
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

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Actions U.S. consumers say they are taking in response to tariffs

The share of U.S. consumers who say they are taking or considering taking each of the following actions in response to tariffs:
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Shares for "I have not done this and do not plan to do this" and "Don't know/ No opinion" are not shown. The trend chart reflects only the share who said “I have done this already”.

Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,200 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

The amount by which U.S. consumers estimate the tariffs increased their household’s expenses in the preceding month

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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,200 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

How U.S. consumers say their savings will change

The share of U.S. consumers in each of the following demographic groups who say they will save more or less because of tariffs:
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,200 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

 

Perceptions of Corporate Responses

U.S. consumers’ perceptions of American companies’ responses to the tariffs

The share of U.S. consumers who say that they have recently seen, read, or heard “a lot” or “some” about companies doing each of the following in response to tariffs:

Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers’ preferred corporate responses to tariffs

Shares of U.S. consumers who say U.S. companies should “definitely” take each of the following actions:
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

 

Attributing Blame

U.S. consumers’ views on who benefits from tariffs by political affiliation

Shares of U.S. consumers who say tariffs will help minus the share who say they would hurt each of the following groups:
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

U.S. consumers’ views on who benefits from tariffs, trended

Shares of U.S. consumers who say tariffs will help minus the share who say they would hurt each of the following groups:
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with margins of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Whom U.S. consumers blame for inflation they attribute to tariffs

Shares of U.S. consumers by political affiliation who say each of the following is “very responsible” for inflation they attribute to tariffs:
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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Whom U.S. consumers blame for inflation they attribute to tariffs

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Surveys conducted monthly among roughly 2,000 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

Methodology

All survey data presented in this tracker was collected through Morning Consult’s proprietary survey research capabilities. All survey interviews are conducted online. Data is weighted to approximate representative samples of U.S. adults.

The most recent survey was conducted  June 13-15, 2025, among roughly 2,200 U.S. adults, with a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points.

 

About Morning Consult

Morning Consult is a global decision intelligence company changing how modern leaders make smarter, faster, better decisions. The company pairs its proprietary high-frequency data with applied artificial intelligence to better inform decisions on what people think and how they will act. Learn more at morningconsult.com.

Email [email protected] to speak with a member of the Morning Consult team.

 

Sonnet Frisbie
Deputy Head of Political Intelligence

Sonnet Frisbie is the deputy head of political intelligence and leads Morning Consult’s geopolitical risk offering for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Prior to joining Morning Consult, Sonnet spent over a decade at the U.S. State Department specializing in issues at the intersection of economics, commerce and political risk in Iraq, Central Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. She holds an MPP from the University of Chicago.

Follow her on Twitter @sonnetfrisbie. Interested in connecting with Sonnet to discuss her analysis or for a media engagement or speaking opportunity? Email [email protected].

Amy He
Head of Industry Analysis

Amy He leads Industry Analysis at Morning Consult. Prior to joining Morning Consult, Amy served as the executive editor at eMarketer, and was a China reporter for many years. She graduated from New York University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and East Asian studies. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected].

Deni Koenhemsi
Head of Economic Analysis

Deni Koenhemsi leads Economic Analysis at Morning Consult. Previously, she was a senior associate at S&P Global, where she managed a team of economists, forecasted commodity prices and advised Fortune 500 companies on their procurement and planning decisions. She received a bachelor’s degree in international relations from the University of Richmond and a master’s degree in international economics from American University. For speaking opportunities and booking requests, please email [email protected]