BETHLEHEM, Pa. — This week on Political Pulse, host Tom Shortell and political scientist Chris Borick have "the talk."
The tariff talk — two weeks after President Donald Trump announced he would impose 10% tariffs across the board, 25% tariffs on the auto industry and other "reciprocal tariffs."
What should Americans expect following this move?
So far, Borick said "it's been challenging" to gauge public and professional reactions to the tariffs because "they're fast-moving, they're widespread, [and] they're constantly changing."
"And anytime you have something as important as a policy tool that could affect prices and availability of goods, you're going to have lots of potential impact on how individuals see the president and how they see the direction of the country," Borick said.
"And so these have been incredibly turbulent times for, I think, Americans as they try to really get a handle on where the president is headed with his tariff policies and economic policies in general."
Right now, most tariffs are paused, Shortell noted, except for some nations such as China.
Still, the fluctuation in actions around tariffs creates "uncertainty" and "keeping up is challenging," Borick said.
"It's probably the most overused word right now," Borick said. "You know, markets hate uncertainty, the public hates uncertainty — but yeah, they do.
"At the end of the day, when you create uncertainty, you're going to have a lot of discomfort."
Economics have their concerns too, Shortell said.
"Is there something about public perception of American manufacturing that makes this a more palatable risk for Trump?" Shortell asked.
Find out by clicking the module at the top of this article to watch this week's episode of Political Pulse.
