Most Americans believe the Trump administration’s tariffs won’t cost them nearly as much as the forecasted impact by prominent economic analysts, according to a recent J.G. Wentworth survey.
The financial services firm reported this month that the average adult expects monthly household expenses to increase by $198 per month next year due to the tariffs. That would add up to an extra $2,376 in total household expenses for the year.
By comparison, the survey said, the Yale Budget Lab has projected that the new import taxes could cost Americans an average of $4,900 per household as overseas suppliers hike prices.
“Hopefully, those who have overestimated the financial impact of these potential tariffs are way off and the figures will be more aligned with the lower estimates we’re seeing,” Sean Murphy, J.G. Wentworth’s vice president of digital marketing, told The Washington Times.
The final amount and impact of the tariffs remain unclear.
President Trump in April announced and then paused steep tariffs on trading partners that export large amounts of goods to the U.S. but don’t buy nearly as much from American producers.
So far, the White House has inked just one new trade agreement – a May deal in principle with the United Kingdom – as it eyes a July deadline to negotiate pacts or reimpose big tariffs on dozens of nations.
“The administration has consistently maintained that tariffs will ultimately be borne by foreign exporters who rely on doing business with the United States, the biggest and best consumer market economy in the world,” White House spokesman Kush Desai told The Washington Times. “Despite endless fear-mongering by the media, Democrats, and so-called ‘experts,’ that’s what has played out: Americans have now seen four consecutive expectation-beating inflation reports.”
J.G. Wentworth said Mr. Trump’s proposal would raise the average tax on imported goods from 3% in his first term to 22.5%.
Among those responding to the company’s survey, 94.4% expected their household expenses to go up next year as a result.
Another 3.6% of respondents thought there would be no effect, and 1.9% of those surveyed believed the tariffs would reduce their bills.
Most survey participants were working-age adults earning between $25,000 and $74,999 yearly.
Respondents older than 60 were the most likely to anticipate paying less or the same as before the tariffs.
“People should prepare for the potential tariffs by being mindful of their spending habits, consider diversifying their purchases and exploring cost-cutting measures, in addition to exploring ways to boost their savings pots,” Mr. Murphy said.
J.G. Wentworth conducted a randomized digital survey of 1,049 adults through Amazon.com in May. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points at the 95% confidence level.
