Trump's tariffs affected the flow of foreign goods

WASHINGTON (EF E).— Imports of goods to the United States fell by around 20% in April compared to March due to President Donald Trump's tariff policy, according to the preliminary report of economic indicators from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Imports of goods in April amounted to $276.1 billion, a decrease of $68.4 billion or 19.85% compared to the previous month.

However, U.S. exports grew by $6.3 billion compared to the previous month. Thus, the U.S. trade deficit was $87.624 billion in April, down 46% from $162.253 billion in March.

In the detailed report, the categories most affected by tariffs were consumer goods, which plummeted by $33.205 billion compared to the previous month. Imports of these products fell from $102.849 billion in March to $69.644 billion in April.

This group typically includes clothing, electronic devices, or toys, among others.

Industrial supplies also recorded a considerable drop: from $75.259 billion in March to $51.834 billion in April. Both declines are over 30%.

This is the first month in which imports have been affected by the trade war unleashed by the president on April 2, which he called "Liberation Day," when he announced a global 10% tariff and what he called "reciprocal" tariffs. These were in addition to others he had previously imposed on China, Mexico, and Canada.

Although a few days later, on April 9, the Republican granted a 90-day truce to the reciprocal tariffs—the highest—to negotiate bilaterally with the countries, imports have to cope with at least the global 10%.

Court rulings

Two days ago, a three-judge panel of the Court of International Trade blocked the president's levies, finding he was exceeding his powers. However, the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit suspended that temporary order, giving the New Yorker a reprieve.

War with China

Donald Trump yesterday accused China of violating the trade agreement it reached with the United States to reduce the high tariffs imposed by Washington, thanks to which, according to the president, Beijing had been saved "from a very bad situation."

“I made a quick deal with China to save them from what I thought was going to be a very bad situation, and I didn't want that to happen. Thanks to this deal, everything quickly stabilized and China got back to normal… The bad news is that China, perhaps not surprisingly to some, has totally violated their agreement with us,” Trump said on his Truth Social network.

The US president did not specify in his post the conditions under which China would have violated the agreement reached two weeks earlier, the second the Trump administration has reached with a foreign government following the imposition of global tariffs, after the one reached with the United Kingdom.