Imports plummeted in April as companies adjusted to President Donald Trump’s sweeping new tariff regime, in an early signal of how his global trade war is unfolding in the U.S. economy.
The monthly goods trade deficit last month was nearly half its size in March, according to an advance estimate from the Commerce Department, driven by a nearly 20 percent drop in imports.
That decrease came after companies and households drove the deficit to a record high in March as they scrambled to make purchases before Trump’s new levies kicked in. Consumers also pulled back on spending in April, and inflation continued to cool. The Federal Reserve’s preferred price gauge now stands only a touch above the central bank’s 2 percent target.