New poll shows 2 in 3 Georgians concerned about tariff price increases
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A new poll is showing just how concerned Georgia is about the impact of tariffs.
The survey from Morning Consult revealed that 2 in 3 Georgians are worried tariffs could drive up prices on everyday items. Only a quarter of Georgians wanted the White House’s historic tariff measures to stick around permanently.
“It’s going to be continued pressure on prices for just about everything we buy,” said Tucker Balch, a finance professor with Emory University. “So the unavoidable impact is a continued rise in inflation for most people in the United States.”
Georgia is a net importer, meaning it brings more goods into its borders than it exports. Business owners have told Atlanta News First that the tariff measures could raise the cost of everything from beer to blue jeans.
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Balch said 40% of the nation’s produce and 60% of U.S. seafood is imported, not to mention all sorts of other grocery items facing tariffs. He thinks consumers will see the impacts first at the grocery store.
“In the case of things that can be stored – cars, appliances, electronic equipment and so on – we have sort of a backlog of those in some sense, so a lot of those items won’t be going up in price until all that backlog is used up,” said Balch. “We can’t have a backlog for groceries because the produce goes bad and they have to constantly be replacing it.”
Trade policy could also impact Georgia’s state budget. State law requires the budget to be in balance, and lawmakers left a $37.7 billion plan for Gov. Brian Kemp to sign before the legislative session ended last week.
But any impact to Georgia’s bottom line from tariffs or federal funding cuts could be cause for lawmakers to return to the Capitol to get the budget back in balance.
State Rep. Scott Holcomb (D-Atlanta) questioned Budget Chairman State Rep. Matt Hatchett (R-Dublin) on the possibility of that just minutes before the House ed the 2026 fiscal year budget last Friday.
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“The probability of a recession now is quite high because of the recently imposed tariffs,” Holcomb said. “How comfortable are you with the probability that the revenue estimates that make this budget will hold throughout the year?”
“I would think that this budget would stand,” Hatchett replied. “If there are huge swings then our role is – this is our number one job. And I don’t think anybody in here would object to coming back and correcting something that all of a sudden, unforeseen by us, we have to correct.”
At a press conference following the budget’s age, House Speaker Jon Burns (R-Newington) voiced for Trump’s aggressive stance on trade.
“Look, he’s leveling the playing field with countries we trade with all around the world. We need to be treated equitably in those countries,” said Burns. “We should give it an opportunity for things to work.”
With the 2026 elections fast approaching, over half of respondents to the Morning Consult survey said they’d be more willing to vote for a Congressional representative who opposes new tariffs. That number included a third of GOP respondents.
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