The US trade deficit widened to a record high in March as businesses boosted imports of goods ahead of President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, which dragged gross domestic product into negative territory in the first quarter for the first time in three years.
The report from the Commerce Department yesterday showed the nation imported a record amount of goods from 10 countries, including Mexico and Vietnam. Imports from China were, however, the lowest in five years and could drop further as Trump has hiked duties on Chinese goods to a staggering 145 per cent.
While reciprocal tariffs with most of the US’ trade partners were suspended for 90 days, duties on Chinese goods came into effect in early April, triggering a trade war with Beijing.
“Businesses are clearly scrambling as they try to find a way through this time of unprecedented change, but the worst is undoubtedly yet to come because the import tariff collections did not start to roll in earnest until after the White House Liberation Day announcement on April 2,” said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS. “There are still no trade deals announced in Trump 2.0.”
The trade gap jumped 14pc, or $17.3 billion, to a record $140.5bn, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said yesterday. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit rising to $137bn.
Imports vaulted 4.4pc to an all-time high $419bn in March. Goods imports soared 5.4pc to a record $346.8bn. They were boosted by a $22.5bn jump in consumer goods to an all-time high, mostly pharmaceutical preparations.
Capital goods imports increased $3.7bn to a record high, reflecting a solid rise in computer accessories. Imports of automotive vehicles, parts and engines increased $2.6bn, driven by passenger cars.
But imports of industrial supplies declined $10.7bn amid decreases in finished metal shapes and non-monetary gold, which had accounted for the surge in the prior two months. Crude oil imports fell $1.2bn.
Exports climbed 0.2pc to $278.5bn, also a record high. Exports of goods increased 0.7pc to $183.2bn, the highest since July 2022, lifted by industrial supplies and materials, which advanced $2.2bn amid rises in natural gas and non-monetary gold.
Automotive vehicles, parts and engines exports increased $1.2bn. But exports of capital goods decreased $1.5bn, weighed down by a $1.8bn decline in shipments of civilian aircraft. The goods trade deficit ballooned 11.2pc to a record $163.5bn in March.
The government reported last week that the trade deficit cut a record 4.83 percentage points from GDP last quarter, resulting in the economy contracting at a 0.3pc annualised rate, the first decline since the first quarter of 2022.
Trump sees the tariffs as a tool to raise revenue to offset his promised tax cuts and to revive a long-declining US industrial base. Economists expect the flood of imports to ebb by May, which could help GDP to rebound in the second quarter.
They, however, caution that the lift from subsiding imports could be offset by a drop in exports as other nations boycott American goods and travel. There has been a decrease in visitors to the US, especially from Canada, in protest over the punitive tariffs as well as an immigration crackdown and Trump’s musings about annexing Canada and Greenland.
Indeed, exports of services fell $0.9bn to $95.2bn in March, pulled down by a $1.3bn drop in travel.
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