U.S. imports and exports rebounded slightly in July following several months of sluggish trade, as Americans rushed to bring in gold, consumer goods and other foreign products in the month before President Trump’s most punishing tariffs went into effect.
Data from the Commerce Department on Thursday showed that imports of goods and services rose 5.9 percent and exports grew 0.3 percent in July compared with the previous month. Because U.S. imports grew by more than exports did, the trade deficit also expanded, growing by 32.5 percent to $78.3 billion in the month.
The U.S. trade deficit in goods also rose in July, pushed up in part by a surge of gold buying, as traders rushed to get ahead of steep tariffs on Switzerland. The U.S. trade deficit with Switzerland swelled by $7.6 billion, while the trade deficit with China grew $5.3 billion.
U.S. imports of cars fell, weighed down by a 25 percent tariff on foreign vehicles. Imports of pharmaceuticals also declined slightly in July following months of intense stockpiling meant to get ahead of coming tariffs.
Matthew Martin, a senior economist at Oxford Economics, said that while imports bounced back in July, more than half of the increase was due to foreign gold-buying as investors sought a haven for their investments. U.S. imports linked to A.I. and data centers, like computers and semiconductors, continued to be resilient, he added.
The month represented a slight reprieve for exporters following months of wild swings in trade. After Mr. Trump was elected last fall, importers rushed to bring goods into the United States before expected tariffs took effect, and U.S. imports and the monthly trade deficit started to soar.
Then, as Mr. Trump imposed draconian tariffs on China this spring, U.S. imports plummeted. That also brought down the U.S. trade deficit.
Mr. Trump paused many of his tariffs on other countries this summer, to allow his advisers time to negotiate trade deals. While that helped buoy U.S. trade in July, the effect may be temporary. Far steeper tariffs went into effect on Aug. 7, raising the tariff that the United States charges on exports from dozens of nations to between 10 and 50 percent.
Tariffs discourage trade by adding a government surcharge to goods brought into the country. Mr. Trump has imposed stiff levies on imports from dozens of countries, arguing that cheap foreign goods have cost the United States manufacturing jobs and that tariffs will level the playing field. Many economists argue that tariffs can help U.S. manufacturers in some cases, but that they also tend to slow the U.S. economy by raising prices for consumer goods. They can also backfire on U.S. manufacturers by increasing the cost of foreign materials that U.S. factories need.
At a cabinet meeting last week, Mr. Trump said his trade measures had benefited the country and had already cut the U.S. trade deficit in half.
While that is true, it’s only because the trade deficit surged in the first months of Mr. Trump’s presidency. Importers rushed to arrange for ships and planes to bring a wide variety of products into the United States before the levies could take effect.
But after Mr. Trump introduced his global tariffs on “Liberation Day” in April, those imports reversed drastically, and the trade deficit sharply dropped.
Mr. Trump has described the trade deficit as a national emergency and celebrated that decline. The U.S. trade deficit hit a record $1.2 trillion last year, as the American economy imported far more than it exported.
But economists argue that the trade deficit can fall for various reasons, some of them negative for average Americans. For instance, the U.S. trade deficit historically tends to widen during periods when the economy is growing and Americans can afford to buy foreign goods, and narrow when the U.S. economy is contracting.
Ana Swanson covers trade and international economics for The Times and is based in Washington. She has been a journalist for more than a decade.
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