A new poll released on Sunday indicated that most Americans largely support free trade. The poll results came amid increasing scrutiny over U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war that has started taking a toll on the economy.
According to CNBC, the latest NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll suggested that U.S. residents are now more approving of free trade in light of Trump's ongoing trade war with China.
In the survey, respondents said they approve of global free trade by 64 percent to 27 percent. The figures increased significantly from the 57 percent to 37 percent when Trump was starting his term as president.
Democrats posted a margin of 73 percent to 20 percent, while respondents who said they were political independents recorded a margin of 77 percent to 15 percent. However, the most surprising part of the poll came with results from Republican supporters.
In the early months of Trump's regime, most polls suggested that Republican supporters were more skeptical of free trade. However, as the Trump administration raged tariff wars against China, more Americans appear to have been affected by the consequences of the increased tax duties.
Furthermore, the results suggested that Americans are not as upbeat about Trump's handling of the U.S. economy. The latest poll's results showed a margin of 49 percent to 46 percent. The numbers are pretty much still within acceptable rates.
However, economists noted that approval of Trump declined compared to the figures from early May that stood at 51 percent to 41 percent. It was May when the trade war was re-escalated after the U.S. president banned Chinese tech giant Huawei.
Meanwhile, Trump said on Sunday that he thinks a recession is not at hand, despite warnings from economic experts that the trade war is largely affecting other economies outside the U.S.
"We're doing tremendously well, our consumers are rich, I gave a tremendous tax cut, and they're loaded up with money," Trump said on Sunday, Reuters reported. U.S. top economic advisor Larry Kudlow also echoed the president's sentiments.
On the other hand, the new poll's results could be an indication of growing American disapproval over the Trump administration's economic decisions and free trade policies.
Last week was a huge blow to the U.S. economy as markets tumbled. Furthermore, some political analysts suggested after the disappointing week in American indexes that the decreasing confidence in Trump may be affecting his electoral message for 2020.
Many economists remain wary of Trump's trade war, as well as the reaction of global markets to his tariffs' negative effects on the American consumer and farmers.
