Name: Does Donald Trump have a clear plan for tariffs and trade?
Uploaded: 2025-05-27T17:16:28.577Z
Duration: 2 min 24 s
Description: New polls show that Americans do not believe President Trump has a good plan when it comes to tariffs. Harry Enten shows us why the uncertainty index is going through the roof.

New polls show that Americans do not believe President Trump has a good plan when it comes to tariffs. Harry Enten shows us why the uncertainty index is going through the roof.

Washington

Donald Trump has signed an order to impose tariffs imports into the U.S. from countries including China, Mexico and Canada.

Global Tariffs

Recent polling data reveals that 55 percent of Americans do not believe President Donald Trump has a clear plan for tariffs and trade, with the number rising to 64 percent among independents. The perception of uncertainty is mirrored by economic indicators, as the Trade Policy Uncertainty Index has increased by 846 percent compared to the previous year, reaching record levels.

Experts highlight that proposed tariffs, such as a 50 percent tariff on European Union goods or a 25 percent tariff on iPhones, could have substantial economic consequences. The European Union is the United States' top trading partner, accounting for nearly 5 percent of the U.S. GDP, and the iPhone remains the most popular smartphone in the country. The ongoing uncertainty around trade policy is reflected in both public opinion and financial markets.

Does Donald Trump have a clear plan for tariffs and trade?

As Donald Trump, does he have a clear plan for tariffs and trade? The majority winner here, 55 percent say no, just 45 percent say yes. I will note that the yes number has been falling, the no number has been climbing. And of course, in American politics, it's all about the independents. And what are we dealing with? 64 percent of independents say that Donald Trump does not have a clear plan. So your intro was unclear. The American people think that Donald Trump is unclear. We know, too, that Wall Street seems to feel that way. It seems that every economist I speak to, every smart financial person I speak to, talks to me about the uncertainty. Is there data now that's coming in to back up that uncertainty? Yeah, the voters aren't off in la-la land. What they are doing is they are responding to President Trump the same way that the stock market has been, you know, going up and down and all the way around. And we have something called the Trade Policy Uncertainty Index. And get this, compare this point in time versus a year ago, up 846 percent, as our dear friend John Berman said. That is a slight bit outside the margin of error, haha. And I will note that that is the highest number for any point before this year. We just keep breaking records upon records upon records. As I said at the beginning, Donald Trump's trade policy, about as clear as mud. Breaking records that perhaps one does not actually want to be breaking. When it comes to, there's been a lot of back and forth, too, about the tariffs that have been threatened by the president. What would the practical impact be? Talk to me about just how significant a 50 percent tariff on European Union goods, for example, or even that 25 percent on the iPhone. What does that translate to? Yeah, to borrow a phrase from the current president of the United States, it would be huge, it would be huge in terms of the economic impact. What are we talking about here? Well, what's number one in America? What's the number one smartphone? Well, it's the iPhone. I don't have one, but most people do. There are 155 million active units in America alone. My goodness gracious. How about the number one trade partner for the United States? Well, it's the European Union. In fact, according to The Wall Street Journal, we're talking about 4.9 percent of total GDP in 2024 was because of trade with the European Union. So if these tariffs ever came into effect, and of course, who knows if they actually will, the economic impact would be huge. That is clear as day, not clear as mud, as Trump's trade policy is, Erica.

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