Trump has pitched tariffs to the nation as a means to protect jobs and boost domestic manufacturing — but most Americans think they'll raise the cost of the goods they buy, according to the Ipsos Consumer Tracker. Here's what that means for businesses.
January 22, 2025 - In the run-up to inauguration day, President Trump’s messaging around tariffs brought a degree of uncertainty to both investors and individual consumers.
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After returning to office this week, President Trump once again pitched the “External Revenue Service” to the nation as a means to protect jobs and boost domestic manufacturing. This time, he also insisted that he'd enact 25% tariffs on Mexico and Canada by February.
But a majority of Americans (66%) think these tariffs will raise the cost of the goods they buy, according to the latest data from the Ipsos Consumer Tracker. That perception is practically unanimous among Democrats (at 87%), but nearly half of Republicans feel the same.
This isn’t the first sign we’ve seen that Americans are worried about tariff-induced price hikes. When we asked about tariffs this past December, 64% agreed that “tariffs on imported goods will lead to higher prices on food, electronics and other goods.” We've also seen that high confidence the tariffs will happen in the first place: 81% of Americans think"it's likely that Trump will try to increase tariffs on imports from China and Mexico," according to a recent Ipsos poll for The New York Times.
But this time around, we asked Americans whether they were doing something about it.
Most people are not trying to stockpile goods, but a sizeable minority is taking some precautions. One in four Americans say they plan to purchase electronics in advance of tariffs, while one in five intends to pick up home improvement items or building materials. 
Generally speaking, then, Americans think that the costs of tariffs will be passed along to the consumer. Will they?
Patrick Sheposh, the head of Ipsos’ Automotive and Mobility practice in the U.S., argues that to get a clearer picture, you have to avoid looking at tariffs in isolation.
“While certainly tariffs will place negative pressure on costs, work is also underway by Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to reduce regulatory processes (which traditionally carry attributable cost, development of cost centers and negatively impact speed to market)," Sheposh said. "Package this with signals the new administration is sending on reduction of taxes, the combination of fiscal impacts of the DOGE and tax movement feasibly can offset increase in product cost from tariffs."
Another factor to keep in mind: the indefatigable American consumer.
“The U.S. is in a power position from a consumption market perspective, as we are one of only a handful of countries that has Millennials at volume. No other country can boast that relative strength in viable consumption market,” Sheposh said. “Therefore, global companies must maximize the U.S.’s large consumption base to survive. This will impact on their pricing and/or application of tariffs.”
Indeed, we recently found that Americans aged 18 to 34 were more confident than older Americans about the economy under Trump — and at times, more confident about discretionary spending in general. In this wave, that cohort was considerably more likely than other generations to say that they’d be making purchases ahead of Trump’s tariffs. But there are also some signs from this wave that Americans are beginning to cut back on excess spending. 
Whether Americans will continue to spend also matters for businesses. But in the meantime, they’ll also need to also grapple with more immediate considerations. For starters, they should look into stocking up on imported goods too, said Anne Hunter, Senior Vice President, B2B Products and Go-to-Market for Ipsos.
“Firms looking to avoid large increases in supply costs should work to stockpile raw materials before tariffs kick in, diversify their vendors across multiple countries, and explore options to purchase supplies from U.S. businesses which will not be impacted by tariffs,” Hunter said.
“Companies with exceptional supply-chain management can seize these changes as an opportunity for growth. If market competitors cannot find creative approaches to keeping materials costs down, and thus must raise prices, it will create an opening for companies with stronger supply chain management to steal market share.”
There are still a number of open questions about tariffs: when they’ll will take effect, which nations and goods they’ll apply to, and how they’ll impact the broader health of the American economy (or, for that matter, the global economy).
But no matter how things break, businesses across industries will need to plan for potential outcomes and keep a close eye on regulatory shifts and strategic opportunities.
For more on that, be sure to read “How Trump reshapes the world for brands,” a breakdown of the Trump administration through the lens of Ipsos Global Trends.
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Source: Ipsos
