Most Americans say Trump tariffs go ‘too far,’ poll finds: Live updates

Trump’s job approval rating fell sharply after the rollout of his sweeping global tariff policy a week ago, a new Economist/YouGov poll shows.

The survey found that 51% of respondents disapprove of the job Trump is doing as president, versus 43% who view his efforts positively.

Trump’s disapproval gap widened by five percentage points from the pollster’s prior survey, conducted from March 30 to April 1 — a day before he unveiled his so-called reciprocal tariffs.

The new poll found 56% of Americans said that Trump’s efforts to slap tariffs on imports have “gone too far.” Just 27% say they’ve “been about right.”

Respondents’ views of Trump’s handling of jobs and the economy also soured: 51% disapprove and 41% approve, according to the poll. That is a drop of seven percentage points from the prior survey.

The poll surveyed 1,741 respondents — most of whom were registered voters — and has a margin of error of 3.1%.

— Kevin Breuninger

The escalating trade war could ultimately dent the U.S. mortgage market — if China, Japan or other foreign nations choose to sell U.S. mortgage-backed securities in response to Trump’s tariffs.

At the end of January, more than $1.3 trillion worth of U.S. MBS was held by foreign countries, according to Ginnie Mae. That amounts to 15% of the outstanding total.

Should those countries choose to sell, mortgage rates would rise.

“If China wanted to hit us hard, they could unload treasuries. Is that a threat? Sure it is,” said Guy Cecala, executive chair of Inside Mortgage Finance.

— Sara Salinas and Diana Olick

Chinese imports will generate $1.24 billion in tariffs collected each day after Trump’s new duties take full effect, global trade data company ImportGenius estimates.

Imports from Vietnam will generate $94.86 million in tariffs collected each day, according to ImportGenius, which shared its estimates with CNBC.

Tariffs on imports from the European Union will generate $12.2 million in duties collected daily, the company said.

Total annual tariffs collected on imports from China, Vietnam and the EU will top $640 billion, the company estimates.

– Lori Ann LaRocco and Dan Mangan

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer says that a “market crash” spurred by Trump’s tariffs is lighting Americans’ retirement accounts “on fire.”

The plummeting market has “vaporized a whopping $104,000 from the average retirement account,” Schumer says from the Senate floor.

“That’s when you factor in a 17% drop in the Standard and Poor’s 500 since the middle of February,” he says.

“That’s years, sometimes decades, of people’s savings gone in a flash.”

For Americans retiring soon, Trump’s tariffs are “like a brick over the head,” Schumer says.

— Erin Doherty

An “on the water clause” will allow cargo entering U.S. ports today or already in transit at sea to avoid being subject to reciprocal tariffs that took effect today and Saturday.

The clause was contained in updated guidance on tariffs of Chinese imports released by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

The guidance says that cargo already on its way to the U.S. will be subject to a base tariff rate of 10% that Trump announced in more than 180 countries last week — but not to extra, reciprocal rates of varying levels imposed on scores of those countries in recent days.

Any cargo “loaded onto a vessel at the port of loading and in transit on the final mode of transport on or after 12:01 a.m. EDT April 5, 2025, and before 12:01 a.m. EDT April 9, 2025, and (2) are entered for consumption, or withdrawn from warehouse for consumption, before 12:01 a.m. EDT on May 27 2025, are subject to the 10% additional rate in lieu of the country-specific rate of duty,” the guidance says.

The May 27 date gives ocean freight sufficient time to arrive in North America once on the water.

— Dan Mangan and Lori Ann LaRocco

China issued an alert warning its citizens and students of the potential risk of traveling in the U.S. and attending schools there.

“Recently, due to the deterioration of China-US economic and trade relations and the domestic security situation in the United States, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism reminds Chinese tourists to fully assess the risks of traveling to the United States and be cautious,” the ministry said in an alert.

China’s Education Ministry issued a similar alert to students studying in the U.S.

In 2024, approximately 1.6 million Chinese tourists visited the United States and more than 250,000 students enrolled in U.S. schools.

— Dan Mangan

Google is trying to determine its response to tariffs that will increase the cost of goods imported to the U.S., the search engine company’s cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian, said in an interview with CNBC’s Deirdre Bosa on Tuesday.

“The tariff side is so fluid,” he said. “I don’t want to comment on it, because it’s changing by the minute. We’re working similar to every other company to look at what we should do.”

Google has taken steps to lower the cost of sending requests to its artificial intelligence models, Kurian said. In addition to renting out Nvidia graphics processing units, the company also offers its own Tensor Processing Units.

“We co-engineer the model and the infrastructure,” he said. “We’re able to do an exceptional job with quality and cost and latency, and the customers who use it love it.”

— Jordan Novet

Pharmaceutical stocks are reeling after Trump reiterated that he is planning to impose “major” tariffs on drug imports with the stated goal of bringing more manufacturing back to the U.S.

Amgen and Merck shares were down about 2%, while AbbVie shed 3%.

Trump’s remarks at an event in Washington did not provide many details on how these levies would be structured, but Bank of America analyst Tim Anderson speculates Trump will use a “Section 232 Investigation.”

If this is true, Anderson said it could take some time to execute, based on past examples. With this strategy, an investigation is launched to determine if importing specific goods is a threat to national security. If it is, then action can be taken.

Medical products were excluded from the “reciprocal” tariffs announced April 2. This was in keeping with long-standing trade agreements that have exempted drugs from tariffs.

— Christina Cheddar Berk

Canada’s 25% auto tariffs took effect on U.S.-produced vehicles and many parts in American cars and trucks.

The new levies differ in important ways from Trump’s tariffs implemented last week.

Canadian officials purposely carved out individual auto parts from the tariffs and are taking into account the United States-Canada-Mexico Agreement, or USMCA, trade deal with the new levies. There’s also a remissions process that could allow companies some relief from the duties, according to Canadian officials.

Canada’s response includes 25% tariffs on vehicles from the U.S. that are not compliant with USMCA — or CUSMA, as Canada refers to it — as well as non-Canadian and non-Mexican content of USMCA-compliant fully assembled vehicles imported into Canada from the U.S.

Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney said Canada’s new levies are expected to generate 8 billion Canadian dollars ($5.6 billion), which will be used to help workers and companies affected by Trump’s tariffs. Vehicle imports from the U.S. totaled CA$35.6 billion in 2024, according to the Department of Finance Canada.

Read the full story.

 — Michael Wayland

The European Union voted to approve retaliatory countermeasures against 25% tariffs imposed by the U.S. on steel and aluminum.

The European Commission, the bloc’s executive arm, said collection on the duties would start April 15.

The tariffs were set to target a wide range of goods, including poultry, grains, clothing and metals, according to a draft document seen by CNBC in March.

The EU has not released a final list of affected products and declined to comment when asked what it would include.

The EU also faces tariffs of 20% on almost all U.S. imports.

— Jenni Reid

Trump Media shares popped on the heels of Trump using his initials — DJT — at the end of a social media post telling people, “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!”

DJT is also the stock ticker symbol for Trump Media, which owns the Truth Social app that the president uses.

Trump often signs his Truth Social posts “DJT” when the topic of those posts does not relate to stocks or the market.

— Dan Mangan

Trump is urging…