Polls of consumers and surveys of business owners suggest the White House has a lot of convincing to do.
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AsPresidentDonaldTrumppreparestoannouncehislong-promisedsetofglobaltariffsonwhathehasdubbed“LiberationDay,”hefacesapublicthatisunconvincedthoseimporttaxeswillboosttheAmericaneconomy.
AFoxNewspollpublishedlastmonthfoundthat69percentofAmericansbelievetariffswillmakeproductsmoreexpensive,whilejust7percentsaytariffswillreduceprices.Thesamepollfoundthat53percentofAmericansbelievetariffswillharmtheeconomy,whilejust28percentsaytheywillimproveit.
ConfrontedwiththosefiguresduringaninterviewonSunday,WhiteHouseeconomicadviserPeterNavarrobrushedoffanyworriesandarguedthatbusinesseswillhaveto“cuttheirpricestoabsorb”thecostsoftariffs.
Navarroisatruebelieverwhohasneverbeenswayedbyeconomicdataorreasoning,buthisbossdoesnotseemtosharethatsamenonchalance.Trumphasrepeatedlywarnedthattherewillbesomepainassociatedwithhisnewtradepolicies.He’salsoreportedlytriedorderingcarcompaniestosteerc
