(AURN News) — As President Donald Trump escalates a trade war with China, a new Rasmussen poll shows that nearly half of likely U.S. voters believe the federal government isn’t doing enough to shield American manufacturers and businesses from foreign competition.

According to the poll, 45% of likely voters say the government falls short in protecting U.S. industry, while only 17% believe it goes too far. Another 25% think the current level of protection is about right, and 14% are unsure.

The findings come as Trump imposed an additional 50% tariff on Chinese goods this week, following China’s retaliatory move to increase tariffs by 34%. The president, in a lengthy post on Truth Social, warned of further consequences if China failed to withdraw what he called long-term “trading abuses.”

“Any country that retaliates against the U.S. by issuing additional tariffs… will be immediately met with new and substantially higher tariffs,” Trump wrote, adding that if China did not reverse course by April 8, “the United States will impose ADDITIONAL Tariffs on China of 50%, effective April 9th.”

He also announced a halt to trade talks with China and said negotiations would instead begin with other nations.

The economic fallout has been swift. Wall Street took a hit after the back-and-forth tariff announcements, with some Americans seeing significant losses in retirement accounts. Markets showed some signs of recovery Tuesday morning, but uncertainty remains top of mind for a lot of people.

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