US trade deficit hits record high in March due to Trump's tariffs — Reuters

The US trade deficit widened to a record in March. The reason for this was the increase in imports of goods by businesses in anticipation of the introduction of large-scale tariffs by the President of the United States Donald Trump. These duties were later imposed against the country’s key commercial partners. In turn, the changes led to a slowdown in the nation's GDP growth last quarter for the first time in three years.

According to the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the Department of Commerce, the US trade deficit increased by 14%, or $17.3 billion, to a record $140.5 billion. Earlier, Reuters economists predicted the surge in this indicator to 137 billion dollars. At the same time, the volume of imports rose by 4.4% and reached its record high of $419 billion.

The dollar exchange rate dropped by 5.11% this year against the monetary units of key US trading partners, the agency notes.