Even as Trump wages tariff wars, 75% Americans don't know what it means

US President Donald Trump believes that tariffs are a solution to everything from fentanyl crisis to purported unfair trade practices that the rest of the world subjects the United States to. His cult-like relationship with his followers ensure they believe it completely.

Even as Trump’s followers are hoping for prices to go down and jobs to shift to the United States, they are set for a rude surprise because tariffs would do the exact opposite of what Trump has made his followers believe. As part of the misinformation-driven election campaign, Trump has managed to convince his voters that tariffs would be paid by either foreign governments or foreign companies exporting their products to the United States. That’s not true.

Tariffs have to be paid by importers, not governments or companies exporting their products, but a survey published shortly after the 2024 presidential election showed that 75 per cent of Americans don’t know this — even though they elected a man who considers tariffs a magic wand for everything.

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Following through on his promise to impose tariffs, Trump on Saturday signed executive orders to impose 25 per cent tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico and 10 per cent on Chinese imports. He made temporary exception on Canadian oil that would see 10 per cent tariff for now. The tariffs will come into effect on Tuesday.

Canada has already retaliated to Trump’s tariffs with counter-tariffs of 25 per cent on a wide range of US imports ranging from honey and tomatoes to clothes. China has said that a response is in the making and Mexico is also expected to announce counter-measures on Monday.

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75% Americans don’t know what tariffs are, finds survey

A survey by Morning Consult in November found that 75 per cent Americans don’t know what tariffs mean.

When asked about the meaning of tariffs, only 25 per cent correctly said that it’s a fee that the importer in the United States pays to the US government for imported product or service.

While 15 per cent flatly admitted they had no idea about tariffs, 60 per cent incorrectly said tariffs are fees that are paid by a foreign government or foreign company to the United States.

Shortly after winning the 2020 election, Trump said he would impose 25 per cent tariffs on all imports from Canada and Mexico for their failure to check the flow of illegal immigrants and drugs into the United States from their soil. He has threatened China with 10 per cent tariff for supplying fentanyl that he said enters the United States from Canada and Mexico.

China, Canada, and Mexico are largest US trade partners and tariffs would increase the cost of imports by around $236 billion, according to Yahoo Finance.

Notably, Trump has imposed more tariffs on neighbours and allies than adversary China. This is in line with his long-running policy of being friendly with US adversaries like China and Russia, whose autocratic leaders he has long admired, and being aggressive with partners . He and his allies have threatened neighbours like Mexico and Panama with invasions, called for the annexation of Canada, and threatened the invasion of ally Denmark’s Greenland island.

Trump has said that he would soon impose tariffs on the European Union (EU) as well, which has in turned warned of retaliatory measures.

Trump is looking for a deal — with a poor record

The idea behind tariffs is not to get into a spiralling trade war but to get a deal.

For all his rhetoric of being a dealmaker, Trump’s track-record in deals has been very poor.

During his first term, Trump was gamed by China and the trade deal he struck turned out to be an absolute failure. Similarly, he could not strike a deal with Iran, Russia, or North Korea even though he threatened, cajoled, and appeased those regimes at various points.

Experts have said that Trump is looking to strike a deal with China again. Financial firm Raymond James said in a Nov. 25 analysis that while Trump has indeed emerged as a ‘Tariff Man’, he “prepared and willing to back down in exchange for key policy concessions”.

“The announcement of the tariffs —almost two months before Trump is sworn into office— should be viewed as a play to bring Mexico, Canada, and China to the negotiating table fairly early on," said the firm, as per Yahoo Finance.

Indeed, this is how Trump functioned in the first term. While he threatened China with 45 per cent tariff on all Chinese imports, he imposed tariffs in the 7.5-25 per cent on narrow range of products.

In his second term, Trump is much more friendly with China and Russia. He has already saved TikTok — at least for now. The app is a tool for the Chinese regime to peddle anti-West and pro-China content to brainwash users into being supporters of China. However, the app has also given Trump’s far-right supporters a platform that played a key role in his victory so Trump has rewarded the app for helping him win.

In the trade deal with China in the first term, called Phase One Economic Agreement, China had committed to buy additional $200 billion-worth US goods and services over the next two years. China did not even buy the goods and services that it had been buying before the deal was signed, which meant that instead of increasing the purchase by $200 billion, China decreased the purchase.

“In the end, China bought only 58 per cent of the US exports it had committed to purchase under the agreement, not even enough to reach its import levels from before the trade war. Put differently, China bought none of the additional $200 billion of exports Trump’s deal had promised,” noted Chad P Bown, the then-Reginald Jones Senior Fellow at Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE).