Published
November 22, 2024
The U.S. business community knows that trade is critical to America’s prosperity. Today, more than 40 million American jobs depend on trade. Selling more American-made goods and services to 95% of the world’s consumers who live outside our borders is a key driver of economic growth.
Opinion surveys have long affirmed the vast majority of Americans don’t think about trade often compared to other public policy issues such as jobs or inflation. In Gallup’s October 2024 poll, less than one-half of one percent of Americans named trade as “the most important problem facing America today.”
However, contrary to the political debate in Washington, most Americans say they benefit significantly from international trade. The following are findings from a survey of 1,684 people in October 2024 commissioned by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.
The survey was conducted by occam™ by AlphaROC, Inc., All Rights Reserved. MOE on Gep Pop level is ~2.4%; MOE for Voters is ~2.6%.
1) Americans think international trade is more positive than negative for their standard of living by nearly a six-to-one margin (59% positive to 10% negative).
2) Americans think they should be free to buy products from friendly nations and export U.S.-made goods to them without government interference by a four-to-one margin (59% to 14%).
3) Two-thirds of all Americans think it is important or very important for the U.S. to take a leadership role in writing pro-growth rules for international trade in trade agreements with friendly and allied nations. Only 6% say it is not important.
4) Nearly half (48%) of all Americans support people in the U.S. trading more with people from other nations; only 17% are opposed.
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About the authors
John G. Murphy
John Murphy directs the U.S. Chamber’s advocacy relating to international trade and investment policy and regularly represents the Chamber before Congress, the administration, foreign governments, and the World Trade Organization.
