Due to Trump's tariff onslaught, import hoarding... US January trade deficit hits record high

Record-High Imports in January Lead to 34% Surge in Trade Deficit
Trump Blames Biden Again: "I Will Fix It"

In January of this year, the United States recorded its largest-ever trade deficit. This was the result of companies preemptively stockpiling imports ahead of President Donald Trump's tariff onslaught.

AFP Yonhap News

On the 6th (local time), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that the trade deficit for January this year was $131.4 billion, marking the largest trade deficit in history.

The trade deficit expanded by 34% in just one month, from $98.1 billion in December last year. It also significantly exceeded market expectations of a $128.3 billion deficit.

The trade deficit grew as imports increased sharply more than exports. Exports rose by 1.2% to $269.8 billion, while imports surged 10% to a record high of $401.2 billion.

This is analyzed as an effect of companies increasing imports preemptively to stockpile inventory around the time of President Trump's inauguration on January 20, who calls himself the "Tariff Man."

However, President Trump blamed the expansion of the trade deficit on former President Joe Biden. On the same day, he posted on his social media platform Truth Social, which he created, saying, "A massive trade deficit with the world was just announced," and added, "Thanks to Sleepy Joe (a mocking reference to Biden's age and health issues). I will fix it."

As expected, President Trump has been imposing tariff bombs worldwide since his inauguration. On the 4th, he implemented a 25% tariff on Mexico and Canada after a one-month grace period. The following day, on the 5th, he announced a one-month exemption from tariffs on automobile imports produced in the two countries, and two days later, he announced a one-month grace period on most imports from Mexico. For Chinese imports, after imposing an additional 10% tariff on the 4th of last month, he raised it by another 10% on the 4th of this month, bringing the total additional tariff to 20%. On April 2, he declared that he would impose reciprocal tariffs considering both tariff rates and non-tariff barriers of other countries.