Trump sticks with tariffs despite rising prices and voter unease before midterms

Donald Trump is pressing ahead with fresh tariffs despite legal setbacks and public criticism. The move has raised fears of higher prices, trade retaliation and a political backlash before the midterms.Image used for representational purposes onlyNewyork,Oct 11, 2026 17:58 ISTUS President Donald Trump is sticking to his tariff policy despite higher prices, criticism from trade experts and discontent among voters, betting that the approach will work politically ahead of the November 3 midterm elections.That bet appears risky. A recent poll found that most US adults disapprove of his trade policies, with more than 64 per cent saying he has gone too far with his latest tariffs, up from 58 per cent in January.The United States has imposed import duties on goods from most countries at rates in the low double digits, though the levels have shifted because of legal setbacks and Trump’s repeated changes. In the biggest round last year, Trump imposed what he called “reciprocal” tariffs and other duties on dozens of countries, citing a 1977 law that he said let him act without congressional approval during an economic emergency.After the Supreme Court struck that down in February, Trump turned to other trade laws. The main one now is Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974, which allows him to impose tariffs on countries he believes are using unfair trade practices, such as failing to properly enforce a ban on forced labour. The new duties range from 10 per cent to 12.5 per cent on imports from 60 economies, including the European Union, India, Japan, Canada and Mexico. Trade experts say Trump is disrupting a relatively open global trading system that many mainstream economists believe has benefited the US by supporting growth, keeping prices low and making American businesses more competitive in global industries. The US is the world’s second-largest exporter after China. It exported USD 3.4 trillion in goods and services last year, far ahead of Germany’s USD 2.3 trillion.Trump says foreign exporters are paying the tariffs, but studies, including from the New York Fed and Harvard, have found that overseas companies have largely not cut prices enough to offset the duties paid by US businesses at the border. Those businesses are either absorbing the extra costs or passing them on to consumers through higher prices. The White House says a factory boom is already under way and points to data showing that manufacturing jobs, after falling last year, are rising again, along with work in some non-residential construction trades. “Factory construction jobs of today mean more manufacturing jobs down the road once those factories come online,” White House spokeswoman Taylor Rogers said. There is also mixed evidence behind Trump’s argument that other countries are taking advantage of the US. In the four years after China joined the World Trade Organisation in 2001, nearly 3 million US manufacturing jobs were lost, speeding up the shift away from factory work. Even strong supporters of global trade acknowledge that damage. Many US companies found it hard to compete with a wave of discounted products from China, which has suppressed consumption to encourage exports.At the same time, some countries do have higher tariffs than the US, weaken their currencies to make exports cheaper in the American market and support industries with subsidies. But tariffs among major US trading partners are generally low, often close to US levels and in some cases lower. Before the trade war, the US average tariff rate on goods from the European Union was 1.47 per cent, slightly above the EU’s average 1.35 per cent on American goods, according to Brussels think tank Bruegel. About 30 per cent of European imports come from US-owned companies, according to the European Central Bank.Trade ties with Canada were also similar before talks broke down this summer. Canada’s effective tariff rate on US imports was about 2.4 per cent, less than half the 5 per cent that the US imposed on Canadian goods, according to Oxford Economics. The two countries are now locked in a tit-for-tat dispute, with both sides raising tariffs on each other, underlining the political, legal and economic pressures around Trump’s trade strategy.With PTI Inputs- Ends