Key insights
- US imports from China have significantly decreased (40.7%) due to tariffs, shifting trade routes with Mexico, Canada, and Taiwan becoming larger exporters. Despite the intended goal of reshoring manufacturing, the US industrial sector has seen job losses and persistent trade deficits. This disruption has contributed to higher prices for core goods, pushing inflation above the Federal Reserve's target, indicating a potential headwind for consumer spending and economic growth.
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Imports from China have taken a nosedive since last year, showing how seriously President Donald Trump's tariffs have shaken up global trade routes and affected what U.S. shoppers see on store shelves.
That's according to the Census Bureau, which reports that the U.S. imported $60.87 billion worth of goods from China in 2026 through March, compared to $102.66 billion over the same period in 2025—a 40.7% drop.1 Trump targeted China with especially punishing tariffs as part of his campaign to use import taxes to lure manufacturing back to American shores, at one point targeting what was then America's largest trading partner with a 164% tariff.2
China is still a major exporter to the U.S., but is not nearly as dominant as it was before tariffs tilted the playing field.
Tariffs on China are lower these days, especially since the Supreme Court struck down many of Trump's import taxes in February.
The drop in Chinese imports has yet to produce the industrial renaissance in the U.S. that the tariffs were intended to accomplish, and the manufacturing sector has lost jobs consistently since the tariffs were put in place. Nor have they eliminated the trade deficit, which stood at $60 billion in March, compared with $66 billion in March 2024.3
However, trade patterns have shifted in a big way: In the first quarter, China was the fourth-largest exporter to the U.S. behind Mexico, Canada and Taiwan. In fact, the U.S. bought more than double the amount of products from Mexico in the first quarter than it did from China.
All that disruption has come at a price, and it's one that U.S. consumers have paid. Prices for "core" goods other than food and energy were up 2.8% over the year in April according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, helping push overall inflation well above the Federal Reserve's goal of a 2% annual rate. The increase is noteworthy because in pre-pandemic times, core goods prices typically stayed flat or decreased.4
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