The US trade deficit hit a record high in January.
The deficit surged 34% hitting an all-time high of $131.4 billion.
The U.S. trade deficit widened to a record high in January amid front-loading of imports ahead of tariffs, suggesting that trade could be a drag on economic growth in the first quarter.
The trade gap surged 34.0% to an all-time high of $131.4 billion from a revised $98.1 billion in December, the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) said on Thursday. The percentage change was the largest since March 2015.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the trade deficit soaring to $127.4 billion from the previously reported $98.4 billion in December. President Donald Trump this week slapped a new 25% tariff on imports from Mexico and Canada and doubled duties on Chinese goods to 20%, triggering a trade war.
Imports soared 10.0%, the most since July 2020, to $401.2 billion. Goods imports increased a record 12.3% to an all-time high of $329.5 billion. They were driven by a $23.1 billion increase in imports of industrial supplies and materials, mostly reflecting finished metal shapes, which are probably gold.
Trump blasted Biden over it and vowed to change it.
Massive Trade Deficit with the World, just announced, compliments of Sleepy Joe Biden! I will change that!!!