By Ana Swanson | New York Times
President Trump’s sweeping tariffs took a toll on trade in August, as imports of goods and services dropped 5.1 percent, to $340.4 billion, after taxes on exports from roughly 90 countries went into effect on Aug. 7, newly released data from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday.
The data, which incorporates less than a month of Mr. Trump’s new tariffs, illustrates how the sharp increase in trade taxes has scrambled life for international business.
U.S. firms clamped down on purchases of foreign machinery, industrial supplies, pharmaceutical ingredients and telecom equipment as tariffs went into effect in August, after months of stockpiling that had filled their store rooms and warehouses. Roughly half the drop in imports was because of a decline in purchases of gold, which investors had rushed to buy the previous month as a safe haven for their investments.
U.S. goods exports also fell in August, shrinking by $500 million to $179 billion as the rest of the world bought fewer American consumer goods, cars and car parts, and gold. That was offset by an increase in exports of U.S. services, including travel.
