Most say Trump too erratic in economic moves: Survey

Most Americans think President Trump is too “erratic” in implementing his trade agenda as he slaps tariffs onto the country's top trading partners and they want him to combat high prices, according to a new survey published Wednesday night.

The new Reuters/Ipsos poll found that 57 percent of U.S. voters, including around a third of Republicans, think the president’s policies are shaky as he imposes levies on goods coming into the country. A third, 32 percent, disagreed while 11 percent were unsure.

Around 44 percent of respondents stated that they approve of Trump’s presidency so far, the same amount as the previous iteration of the survey released earlier this month.

Around a third, 32 percent, of voters said they approve of Trump’s efforts to tackle the cost of living.

Most think that tariffs will make grocery prices increase, the survey found. The majority of respondents, 70 percent, including around nine in 10 Democratic and six in 10 Republican voters, said the increasing levies will make prices of groceries and other goods go up.

A third of voters, 31 percent, think that when the U.S. charges tariffs, workers are better off, according to the survey. Nearly half of respondents, 49 percent, disagreed while 21 percent were unsure about the tariffs' effects.

After the Trump administration refused to rule out the possibility of the U.S. economy slowly rolling into a recession, the stock market started this week with losses. The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed with an 890-point loss on Monday, while the Nasdaq composite closed with a loss of 4 percent.

The White House previously said the country is in a “period of economic transition” and pinned some of the volatility on the previous administration, adding that Trump’s tariff agenda is intended to boost domestic manufacturing.

Inflation is still the top concern for Americans, the poll found. Around six-in-10 said Trump should focus on tackling inflation, more so than other issues such as immigration, crime or downsizing the federal government.

Most Republicans, nearly 80 percent, believe Trump’s economic policies will “pay off in the long run,” the poll found. Overall, 41 percent of respondents had the same faith in the president’s handling of the economy.

About half of respondents, 51 percent, said Trump’s policies are making the U.S. economy worse, a CNN survey that was released on Thursday found. Some 28 percent said the economic conditions have improved since the president assumed office on Jan. 20.

A Wednesday CNN poll also found that 56 percent of Americans disapprove of Trump’s handling of the economy, while 44 percent said otherwise. Some 1 percent did not have an opinion.

The Reuters/Ipsos poll was conducted from March 11-12 among 1,422 U.S. adults. It had a margin of error of three percentage points among all respondents.

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