New York – The US commercial deficit Donald Trump’s Last and broader duty – With federal data that show a huge storage of pharmaceutical products.
The deficit, which measures the gap between the value of the goods and services that the United States sells abroad against what it buys, has doubled during the last year. In March 2024, the records of the Department of Commerce show that this gap was for less than $ 68.6 billion.
According to federal data published on Tuesday, the United States exports for goods and services totaled around $ 278.5 billion in March, while imports rose to almost $ 419 billion. That increased $ 0.5 billion and $ 17.8 billion, respectively, from the February trade.
Consumer goods led the increase in imports, increasing by $ 22.5 billion in March. And the pharmaceutical products in particular rose $ 20.9 billion, observed the United States Census Office and the Office of Economic Analysis, pointing out fears about Future lift that affect the sector.
“While we knew that consumer goods accounted for most of the March increase, we can now see that the pharmaceutical products were $ 20 billion higher, almost all of which were imported from Ireland,” says a Tuesday note of Oxford Economics Tuesday. “Uncertainty remains high, and the broadest front load signs can be visible in the coming months.”
Imports are flooding US trade wars. UU. They deepen abroad. Trump has threatened and imposed a series of tariff “Liberation Day” On April 2, when he announced new import taxes in almost all business partners in the United States. With the exception of China, the highest rates for many countries have It has been postponed – But there are other radical levies.
The White House insists that the new tariffs will help close Long Data Commercial Deficits (The United States has not sold the rest of the world more than has bought since 1975), revitalize manufacturing in the United States and generate government income. But economists warn about significant consequences for companies, homes and economies around the world under the levies that Trump has proposed.
These new rates are already increasing operating costs for companies that depend on a global supply chain, which, in turn, Walking prices for a variety of goods that consumers buy every day.
The recent increase in imports reflects the efforts of companies throughout the country. To bring foreign goods Before more tasks are activated. The new orders for durable goods manufactured, for example, increased 9.2% to $ 315.7 billion in March, as shown by the data of the Office of Census published last month.
The March commercial deficit exceeds the last monthly record of $ 130.7 billion reported in January, also in the midst of tariff uncertainty after Trump assumed the position, marking a jump of more than $ 32 billion as of December.
All this contributed to reducing economic growth in the first three months of the year. Last week, the Department of Commerce reported that the Gross Domestic Product of the United States, or the production of goods and services, fell at an annual rate of 0.3% From January to March, marking the first drop in three years.
Imports grew at a total rate of 41% for that period, its fastest rate since 2020, shaving 5 percentage points of the growth of the first quarter. But it is likely that this increase is reversed in the second quarter, eliminating some weight in GDP.
