More Americans trust Trump on trade than Biden, but split on China: Survey

More Americans trust former President Trump’s approach to trade than President Biden’s but are split on their approach to tariffs on China, according to a new survey.  

The YouGov poll, released Friday, found 42 percent of Americans somewhat approve of Trump’s approach to foreign trade, 11 percent higher than Biden’s 31 percent. At the same time, 28 percent strongly or somewhat disapprove of Trump’s trade policies, while 36 percent said the same about Biden’s policies, per the survey.

Independents had a similar outlook, with 32 percent supporting Trump and 20 percent backing Biden’s approach to trade.

Trump has pushed for increases in tariffs for some time, especially for items coming from China. In February, Trump floated imposing a 60 percent or higher tariff on Chinese goods if he is reelected to the White House in November.

U.S. adults are split on his position, however, with 38 percent strongly or somewhat supporting it. Roughly 35 percent are strongly or somewhat opposed it, while 27 percent said they were not sure, the poll found.

The former president’s proposal has 52 percent support from Republicans, a much higher number than from Democrats — with only 30 percent of them being in favor of that approach.

According to the poll, more Americans say a trade war with the communist country would hurt the U.S. more than it would China.

While Trump’s proposal drew split reactions in the survey, around half of respondents who had an opinion on the issue said the U.S.’s trade policy regarding China is unfair. About three-quarters of respondents said China’s trade policy toward the U.S. is unfair. 

Still, one-in-three survey takers said they were unsure where the two party front-runners stand on the issue of trade.

Roughly 44 percent of Americans believe Trump wants to increase tariffs, compared to 14 percent who said the same of Biden. More respondents also said Biden is more likely to keep tariffs at the same level, per the survey.

The YouGov poll was conducted between Feb. 27-29 among 1000 U.S. adults. The survey has a margin of error was 4 percentage points.