Most voters want GOP-led Congress to limit Trump’s tariffs

President Donald Trump’s nonsensical “Liberation Day” tariffs are unpopular, and voters want Congress to stop them, according to a new poll conducted by Civiqs for Daily Kos.

The poll, fielded April 12 to 15, finds that 53% of registered voters oppose the tariffs Trump placed on nearly every country in the world. That includes 50% of independents, 45% of whom are strongly opposed to the tariffs.

Voters oppose Trump’s tariffs likely because they believe the tariffs will raise prices. Experts say the tariffs could cost the average American household $4,700 a year.

The Civiqs/Daily Kos poll finds 67% of voters believe the tariffs will raise the prices on everyday items. That includes a plurality (33%) of Republican voters, who are usually reluctant to criticize Trump’s agenda. Another 28% of GOP voters say they are “unsure” if tariffs will increase costs—likely because they don’t want to admit that tariffs will raise costs.

A majority (53%) of voters also want Congress to limit Trump’s tariffs. That includes independents, 53% of whom want the Republican-controlled Congress to limit the tariffs. Only 40% don’t want Congress to do so.

The poll is bad news for Republicans, who have no public plans to block Trump’s tariffs and are even praising the policy that experts say will spike inflation and could sink the country into a recession. Shortly after implementing the near-universal tariffs, Trump announced he would lower them for 90 days for most countries due to the chaos it caused the stock market.

In fact, House Republicans last week snuck a rules change into an unrelated budget bill that blocks Congress from canceling the national emergency Trump used to justify imposing the tariffs. The rules change prevents Democratic lawmakers—or even the handful of Republicans who oppose Trump’s tariffs—from forcing a vote to cancel the tariff emergency.

“House Republicans rigged the rules to prevent a vote on Trump’s tariffs because they’re too chicken to vote yes or no,” Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts wrote in a post on X. “I’ll use every tool I can to highlight their cowardice and demand an end to these catastrophic tariffs that will hurt America’s farmers, families, and future.”

In all, Trump’s handling of tariffs has led a majority of voters (54%) to disapprove of the way he’s handling the economy—which was arguably the main reason he won the 2024 presidential election.

Those findings are consistent with other polls released on Tuesday, which show Trump’s support dropping among voters as they sour on his handling of the economy.

“Trump is ‘completely underwater’ & has broken his own record with the lowest net approval at this point among independents (-22 pts),” CNN’s Harry Enten wrote in a post on X. “His economic net approval with indies at this [point] is so low (-29 pts) it has ‘no historical analogy.’ Most indies (66%) oppose the new tariffs.”

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