Up to 94 percent of American voters say they want an economic nationalist overhaul of the United States’ economy in the wake of the Chinese coronavirus crisis, a survey reveals.
A survey conducted by FTI Consulting finds that American voters overwhelmingly want economic nationalist policies implemented — including more tariffs on foreign imports, mandatory country-of-origin labeling, and a requirement that goods be made in the U.S.
In total, about 66 percent of Americans support increasing tariffs on foreign imports while only 34 percent want more free trade agreements between the U.S. and other countries.
Likewise, 76 percent of Americans said they are willing to pay 5 percent to 100 percent more for U.S.-made products over products made overseas. Just 24 percent said they are not willing to pay more money for U.S.-made products.
The poll shows that Americans are increasingly growing tired of their goods being made in China. Today, about 4-in-10 Americans say they will not buy products imported from China. A plurality of about 34 percent of the 60 percent of Americans who said they will still buy products from China said they will do so but do not like the fact that they are made in China.
Americans are most supportive of economic nationalist policies that mandate country-of-origin labeling so consumers are fully aware of where products are made and imported from, as well as requirements that key supplies, goods, and products be manufactured in the U.S.
About 94 percent of Americans said they support requiring labels on each product that indicates all of the countries where the product was designed, manufactured, and assembled and indicates what percentage of the product was made in each country. Only six percent oppose the requirement.
A petition asking President Trump’s administration to require country-of-origin labeling for beef, pork, and dairy products has gained traction online while Senators Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) and Rick Scott (R-FL) have filed legislation to require products sold online to disclose where they are made and manufactured.
Americans, the survey finds, by large majorities want the U.S. to mandate that medical supplies, pharmaceuticals, products bought by the Defense Department, airplanes, and airplane parts be made in America.
On medical supplies, 88 percent of Americans support a requirement that it be made in the U.S. Only 12 percent oppose such a requirement. For pharmaceuticals, products bought by the Defense Department, airplanes, and airplane parts, 81 percent to 87 percent of Americans support requiring they be made in the U.S.
As Breitbart News has chronicled, the U.S. has suffered from a shortage of vital drugs, rubber gloves, and plastic bottles due to decades-long free trade policies. The plurality of these basic necessities are made in China.
Similarly, about 95 percent of ibuprofen and 70 percent of acetaminophen imported to the U.S. arrive from China.
Since the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) was enacted and China entered the World Trade Organization (WTO), five million American manufacturing jobs have been eliminated from the U.S. economy — 3.4 million of which are due to U.S. free trade with China — and 50,000 manufacturing plants have shuttered. The mass elimination of working and middle class jobs, as a result, have coincided with a more than 600 percent increase in trade deficits.
American manufacturing is vital to the U.S. economy, as every one manufacturing job supports an additional 7.4 American jobs in other industries.
The FTI Consulting was conducted from May 12 to 14. The poll has a margin of error of +/- 3.09 percent.
John Binder is a reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter at @JxhnBinder.