Who is Googling Trump’s tariffs—And why that matters

Michael Donadelli and Luca Gerotto

Economics Letters, 2025, vol. 255, issue C

Abstract: This study investigates U.S. public concern over tariffs during the initial three months of Donald Trump’s second term. By analyzing state-level Google search frequency for the topic ‘tariff’, it explores whether tariff-related anxiety was uniformly distributed across states or influenced by political affiliation. The data reveal widespread political polarization: states that supported Kamala Harris exhibited significantly higher search intensity compared to states that supported Trump. These findings suggest that voters in Harris-leaning states were more alarmed by the potential economic consequences of Trump’s trade policies, highlighting both the politicization of trade policy and its varying resonance across the political spectrum.

Keywords: Electorate; Google trends; Tariff; United States (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C21 D72 D80 F13 F14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecolet:v:255:y:2025:i:c:s0165176525003507

DOI: 10.1016/j.econlet.2025.112513

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