The latest Marquette University Law School Poll finds respondents are “really skeptical” of President Donald Trump’s tariffs, the poll’s director says.
The poll, conducted in late February before this week’s Trump tariffs, found 32% of those surveyed said tariffs help the U.S. economy while 51% said they hurt the economy. Another 16% said tariffs don’t make much difference.
Among Republicans, tariffs are more popular, the poll found. Sixty-one percent said tariffs help the economy, 14% said they hurt the economy and 25% said it doesn’t make much difference. Meanwhile, 92% of Democrats said they hurt the economy, while 3% said they help and 3% said they don’t do much. Among independents, 50% said tariffs hurt the economy, 24% said they help and 26% said they don’t make a difference.
Charles Franklin, director of the Marquette Law School Poll, said the public’s skepticism “is in line” with findings from an earlier national poll from January. He spoke yesterday during a livestream presentation of the latest poll results.
“The tariff issue is going to be well worth following to see how this plays out, both in its perceptible economic impact and in President Trump sticking to the tariffs,” he said, noting Trump on Tuesday indicated “there may be a bit of an adjustment required.”
The White House yesterday announced a one-month exemption on tariffs against Mexico and Canada for cars, after reportedly meeting with U.S. automakers General Motors, Ford and Stellantis.
Meanwhile, the poll also asked respondents about Trump’s plans to deport immigrants in the United States illegally, which have drawn criticism from those who say it will harm labor-intensive industries in Wisconsin such as agriculture and construction.
Across all registered voters in the poll, 61% said they support Trump’s deportation of immigrants in the country illegally while 38% said they opposed the policy. In a separate question on deporting those who’ve been in the country for a number of years and who have jobs and no criminal record, respondents were split 50-50.
As with tariffs, Trump’s deportation policy is seen more favorably by Republicans. Ninety-one percent of Republican respondents supported deporting immigrants that are in the U.S. illegally, while 8% were opposed. For Democrats, 32% were in favor and 68% were opposed. And among independents, 60% were in favor and 37% were opposed.
“This is a case where the Republicans are completely united in favor of Trump’s position,” Franklin said yesterday. “Democrats, on balance, oppose it. But with a significant share of the Democrats who support deportations.”
The poll was conducted Feb. 19-26, before the tariffs on Canada and Mexico took effect, including 864 registered Wisconsin voters. See full results here.
See more on how tariffs might affect Wisconsin industries in a recent story.
