Strategic Intelligence: Tariffs Sentiment Polls - October 2025

This report is based on a set of 14 polls designed to help understand the business community’s sentiment toward tariffs.

Key Highlights

• In the first 100 days of his second term, Donald Trump blew up eight decades of global trade rules with the imposition of a 10% global baseline and a "reciprocal" tariff framework, plus sizeable tariffs on strategic sectors. These measures disrupted global supply chains, created significant uncertainty for businesses, and eroded consumer confidence. October brought notable tariff developments.
• Trump threatened additional 100% tariffs on China over rare-earth export controls before a US-China trade agreement eased trade tensions (including the US halving its fentanyl-related tariff on China to 10%). Trump also proposed additional tariffs on Canada (due to Ontario airing an anti-tariff ad featuring Ronald Reagan) and Colombia (over inaction on illegal drugs).
• The US announced new tariffs on medium- and heavy-duty vehicles and parts, and on buses, while US tariffs on imports of timber, wood, furniture, cabinets, and related products took effect. The US also signed trade agreements with Thailand, South Korea, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Vietnam. A key ongoing development to watch is the US Supreme Court case that began on November 5.
• It is assessing whether Trump’s most sweeping tariffs are unlawful. If struck down, Trump will use other tariff authorities (like Section 122 of the 1974 Trade Act and Section 338 of the 1930 Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act) to impose similar measures, prolonging trade war chaos. Six months on from tariff ‘Liberation Day’, negative sentiment towards tariffs remains notable across the October edition of our Tariffs Sentiment Polls report series.

Report Scope

• The analyst is running 14 polls on its Verdict and Business Trade Media International networks of B2B websites. The polls are still live at the time of writing, but this report analyzes data captured between April 10 and October 31, 2025. In total, the 14 polls received 16,353 responses. We have categorized the poll questions into four distinct groups for our analysis: concerns and challenges, business outlook, pricing, and investment and procurement.

Reasons to Buy

• This survey gives a unique insight into the business community's views on tariffs. It provides an early insight into their level of concern about the impact of tariffs on their business and a view of how tariffs are expected to impact the economic outlook over the next 12 months.