Half of US Voters Fear Economic Harm From Trump's Trade Policies - Poll

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - Half of Americans believe President Donald Trump’s aggressive use of tariffs threatens the country’s economic prosperity and their own personal finances, a Quinnipiac University poll revealed on Monday

"Trump's trade policies are bad for the US economy, voters say 50 — 39 percent and bad for their personal financial situation, voters say 46 — 35 percent," a press release summarizing the poll said.

In addition, voters said by a 52-38 percent margin that Trump's policies will result in a trade war, with an overwhelming 73-17 percent saying that such a war would hurt the United States.

Earlier in the day, Trump said the World Trade Organization (WTO) has treated the United States very badly. The US president said while his administration is not planning any actions at the moment, something will be done if the WTO does not change course. Over the weekend Axios.com published a leaked memorandum outlining the Trump administration’s plan to abandon fundamental WTO rules.

Tensions between China and the United States have escalated in recent months over tariffs. The sides seemed to settle the issue related to Trump's steel and aluminum tariffs in mid-May by negotiating to cut the China-US trade imbalance.However, early in June, the US president threatened to impose additional tariffs on Chinese goods, citing Beijing's "irrational behavior." China has called Trump's latest threats "an act of extreme pressure and blackmail."

Trump has said the United States will win any trade war and that tariffs are needed to trim the annual US trade deficit of more than $500 billion, which he considers a threat to US national security.