Trump’s tariffs are changing the way Americans spend

American consumers, battle-scarred by the pandemic and the subsequent surge in inflation, are already changing their spending patterns and delaying some purchases due to President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy and the broader economic uncertainty, new survey data shows.

American consumers, battle-scarred by the pandemic and the subsequent surge in inflation, are already changing their spending patterns and delaying some purchases due to President Donald Trump’s chaotic tariff policy and the broader economic uncertainty, new survey data shows. The shift in spending plans was among the findings from tax and audit firm KPMG’s second annual American Perspectives survey released early Thursday. The survey of 2,500 adults sought to evaluate their personal financial situations as well as how they were adapting to changing forces in the economy, including new tariffs, the rise of generative artificial intelligence and the role of higher education. The survey was conducted between April 3 and April 23 — a period that followed Trump’s April 2 announcement of a new slew of massive tariffs and a later pause of dozens of those tariffs. The survey period was before the recent de-escalation of the US and China trade war. Survey respondents indicated plans to hold off on some major purchases and scale back in other areas of their lives in order to not accumulate debt, according to KPMG. “Seeing them go through the Covid cycle and into this new cycle, they’re quickly adapting to their spend-smart initiatives as they look at their personal finances and ways to control costs and how they evaluate major purchasing decisions,” Matt Kramer, KPMG’s US products line of business leader, told CNN in an interview. “I think it took a little bit long the last cycle (the pandemic) where they just weren’t quite used to making those major adjustments, and maybe the cost of money was a little bit cheaper back then,” he said.