kagis

In general, Republicans, older people, the poor, white, and the less-educated believe that international trade is disadvantageous to the US.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2024/07/29/majority-of-americans-take-a-dim-view-of-increased-trade-with-other-countries/

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents now say the U.S. has lost more than it has gained from increased trade. That is 8 percentage points higher than in 2021.

Nearly half of college graduates (47%) say the U.S. has gained more than it has lost from increased trade, compared with about a third of those with less education (31%). These differences are evident in both parties.

So if you figure that Trump’s base is Republican, older, poorer, whiter, and less-educated, they probably are going to be in favor of anything that looks like a reduction in international trade.

On the other hand, it looks like Americans overall aren’t all that concerned about it:

While trade with other nations is an issue in the 2024 presidential campaign, it is not a top concern for most Americans. In our 2024 policy priorities survey, dealing with global trade ranked near the bottom of 20 policy goals asked about.

In our April survey, we asked respondents to weigh the benefits of more trade (“it has helped lower prices and increased the competitiveness of some U.S. businesses”) against the drawbacks (“it has cost jobs in manufacturing and other industries and lowered wages for some U.S. workers”).

Another recent survey by the Center found considerable public skepticism about the benefits from U.S. trade with China, but not with Canada. Nearly half of Americans (47%) said China benefits more from the U.S.-China trade relationship than America does. Only 14% said the same of U.S. trade relations with Canada.