Working Families Are Paying The Price For Trump’s On-Again Off-Again Tariffs, Says Groundwork’s Owens

Working Families Are Paying The Price For Trump’s On-Again Off-Again Tariffs, Says Groundwork’s Owens

This week, President Trump’s erratic tariff policy created more economic uncertainty for consumers, workers, and businesses by threatening a 50% tariff on Brazil, a 35% tariff on Canada, and sending letters to at least 14 countries laying out steep blanket tariffs starting in August. New polling from Groundwork Collaborative and Data for Progress found that most voters (57%) say the expiration of Trump’s tariffs pause would have a negative impact on their finances, including 40% of Republicans, and an overwhelming majority of voters (80%) support an extension of the pause. Working families are also bracing for costs to continue climbing as a result of the law enacted by President Trump that will raise the cost of living for families while giving a massive tax giveaway to billionaires.

Groundwork Collaborative’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens released the following statement:

“With his disastrous budget bill now signed into law, President Trump has turned back to unleashing economic chaos with his latest tariffs. In both cases, working families are paying the price. His on-again, off-again tariff policy continues to hike prices and create uncertainty in the economy, while the budget bill raises costs on essentials like health care, groceries, and utilities. Put together, his policies are a one-two punch on the cost of living, which continues to be the top priority for American families. The stress of not knowing whether you’ll be able to cover your monthly expenses is rising for families across the country, and we have Trump and his chaos economy to blame.”

Recently in the Trump Slump, new polling and economic indicators continue to show that President Trump’s actions are deeply unpopular and hurting the economy.

Polling: 

• New polling from Groundwork Collaborative and Data for Progress showed that nearly half of voters (49%) say that Trump’s tariffs are having a negative impact on their monthly finances—only 16% reported a positive impact on their monthly finances.
• Polling from The Economist and YouGov reported that Americans oppose the GOP budget bill by a margin of 18 percentage points.
• A new poll from Navigator found that Americans oppose the GOP budget bill by 15 points. Notably, three-quarters of Americans view Medicaid favorably – a program that Republicans decimated in their bill.
• A poll from NPR/Marist showed that President Trump’s job approval rating is 43%. His net approval on the economy is -14.
• A Harris poll for The Guardian reported six in 10 Americans said the economy had affected at least one of their major life goals, citing either lack of affordability or anxiety around the current economy.

Economic Indicators: 

• According to the NFIB Small Business Optimism Index, the net percent of owners expecting better business conditions fell three points from May to a net 22% (seasonally adjusted). Historically, this is still a positive reading with the 51-year average at a net 3%.
• While new data from the U.S. Labor Department showed that initial claims for unemployment benefits fell last week, the number of recurring claims made by those who already filed for unemployment rose to their highest level since November 2021.
• In the first half of 2025, companies announced 744,308 job cuts, marking the highest number of layoffs in the first six months of a year since the pandemic, according to Challenger, Gray & Christmas.
• The Dallas Fed Manufacturing Outlook Index came in at -12.7, with business owners citing uncertainty around tariffs as their top concern.

Expert Commentary: 

• Richmond Fed President Tom Barkin shared in the Wall Street Journal how CEOs are using the tariff chaos as cover to raise prices: “Sitting around a table with 15 local business leaders, Tom Barkin peppered them with questions like an economic detective. Are you planning to expand or shrink your workforces? Are you making new investments or pulling back? …Then the management consultant-turned-central banker cut to the chase: Are those price increases for tariff-related costs or are his businesses using ‘tariff noise’ as ‘air cover to raise prices’? …‘It’s both,’ said [Jim] Datin, [a Chapel Hill-based life-sciences executive and partner at a private-equity firm.]  ‘And I feel a little guilty saying that.’ …A regional banker chimed in: Some of his customers were reporting the same thing. It’s this kind of candor that is keeping Barkin on edge—businesses raising prices not because they have to, but because they think they can get away with it. For Fed officials who fought hard to bring inflation down, such admissions make them uneasy.”
• Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell spoke on the decision to hold interest rates steady in the wake of Trump’s tariffs: “In effect, we went on hold when we saw the size of the tariffs, and essentially all inflation forecasts for the United States went up materially as a consequence of the tariffs. We didn’t overreact. In fact, we didn’t react at all; we’re simply taking some time.”
• Douglas Holtz-Eakin, President of American Action Forum, said of the long-term impacts of Trump’s tariffs: “There is no way you can avoid these price pressures. The tariffs are real. It will show up. The only question is how fast and where. That story has yet to play out.”
• JPMorganChase Institute estimated that the current tariff scheme would cost midsize U.S. companies $82 billion. Chris Wheat, JPMorganChase Institute president and co-author of the study, told Axios, “The cost amounts to 3% of their payroll — it’s meaningful that they are paying that much to compensate for the tariffs.”
• Joanne Hsu, the Director of the University of Michigan’s Surveys of Consumers, shared the importance of listening to consumers as consumer sentiment hits record lows: “When all the signals are pointing the same way, I think we need to take the consumer seriously. It’s just really dangerous to overlook.”
• Dean Baker, Senior Economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, wrote about May consumption data: “If we compare May consumption to October, the last month before people knew Trump would be in the White House, the picture is not very good. The logic of going this far back is that durable goods consumption jumped, beginning in November, as people wanted to beat price increases from the Trump tariffs. Anyhow, overall consumption has grown at 1.4 percent annual rate since October. That is not a great story for the economy.”
• Groundwork Collaborative’s Executive Director Lindsay Owens reacted to news that a federal appeals court struck down the Federal Trade Commission’s Click-to-Cancel rule, which would have required businesses to make it easy for consumers to cancel a subscription: “The Federal Trade Commission’s click-to-cancel rule would have saved consumers time, money, and headaches. Today’s ruling got it wrong, ignoring the overwhelming majority of Americans who support the rule in favor of scammers and corporations who trick consumers into overpaying. This ruling will allow companies to continue to gouge consumers, charging them as much as possible for as long as possible, and require consumers to make phone calls or even in-person visits just to cancel a subscription they purchased with a click or a tap. Congress should step up and ban these predatory subscription models that cheat consumers to restore fair pricing in America.“