American Support for Free Trade Sees Partisan Divide
Americans are increasingly supportive of free trade and energy imports from Canada overall, but rising support among Republicans for Trump’s tariff policies highlight contradictions that drive political and trade tensions between the two countries.
These results come from an online poll conducted between June 5th and June 23rd, 2025 of 2,012 Canadian citizens, 18 years or older, and 2,053 American citizens, 18 and older. This survey was sponsored by INNOVATIVE Research Group Inc. and weighted to n=1,500 (Canada) and n=2,000 (USA) based on age, gender, region, education, and self-reported past federal vote to ensure the overall sample reflects the populations according to Census data.
Support for the statement that “free trade agreements are a good way to create economic growth in America” has continued to grow, now at 65% – up from 59% in 2024 and 41% in 2016. Belief in free trade as an economic positive is strong across parties, with approximately two thirds of both Democrat- and Republican-leaning voters in agreement.
Looking at trade with Canada in particular, 65% of Americans believe free trade with Canada has been good for the country. Here we see a partisan divide, however, with 74% of those who vote more Democrat than Republican say it’s a good thing, rising to 76% among those who mostly vote Democrat. Notably, nearly half (46%) of Democratic-leaning voters say free trade with Canada has been very good for the country.
Among Republican-leaning voters, those who say free trade with Canada is a good thing is only 58% for those who mostly vote Republican, rising to 65% of those who vote more Republican than Democrat. We also see a much lower percentage saying that free trade with Canada has been very good for the country, just 1 in 5 (20%) Republican-leaning voters taking this answer – half the number of their Democratic-voting peers.
Looking at energy and oil imports from Canada, we find Americans are also increasingly supportive. Support for importing electricity has grown by 4 points to 56%, and support for importing oil has increased by 3 points to the same level.
But what about the elephant in the room – Tariffs? Americans are paying attention to this issue – 73% of Americans have been closely following news about Trump’s tariff policies, with over half (51%) reacting negatively and only 34% viewing them positively. Over half of Americans say trumps tariff policies will have a negative impact on the American economy (53%) and on ‘people like me’ (52%).
The partisan divide in those numbers becomes very clear when we ask about imposing tariffs on imports from Canada. Overall support for imposing tariffs on Canadian goods has edged up slightly to 34%, but support for blanket tariffs on all foreign imports has dropped from 46% in 2024 to 37% in 2025. Among those who vote mostly Republican 66% support raising tariffs on imports from Canada; this percentage drops dramatically as respondents lean more Democratic.
When we ask if tariffs will hurt in the short run but are good for America in the long run, 74% of respondents who vote mostly Republican agree – but only 15% among those voting mostly Democrat. We also see divisions within the Republican voting coalition, with 74% of Trump Republicans agreeing, but only 57% of Reagan Republicans. The most politically influential segments of the American electorate under a Trump administration are thus most likely to accept a trade fight with Canada, a reality Canadian negotiators will have to bear in mind over the next few weeks.
