US trade deficit hits lowest since 2020, Trump tariff fuel export and job growth: White House

The US trade deficit fell to its lowest level since mid-2020, dropping more than 35 per cent compared to last year, according to a White House statement. The administration credited US President Donald Trump’s tariff-driven trade policies for the improvement, highlighting stronger exports and reduced imports as key factors.

US exports rose 6 per cent from a year earlier, reaching their second-highest value on record. Consumer goods exports, adjusted for inflation, reached a record high, showing strong global demand for American products.

The trade deficit with China reduced to the second-smallest amount since 2009. Tariffs were put in place to ensure, among other things, that access to markets was better and trade practices were fairer, thus contributing to the overall economic growth.

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In Q3 2025, real exports increased by an annual rate of 4.1 per cent, while the volume of imports decreased by approximately 5 per cent, thus providing about one percentage point of contribution to GDP growth, according to a White House press release.

November alone saw the trade deficit drop by more than half compared to the same month last year, driven in part by a surge in tariff collections. The administration framed these gains as leveling the playing field for American workers, manufacturers, and farmers after decades of trade policies it described as skewed against domestic producers.

Since unveiling what it termed a historic trade agenda, the Trump administration said tariffs have provided the US unprecedented leverage in negotiating new trade deals.

Agreements now cover more than half of global GDP and include major partners like the United Kingdom, European Union, Japan, China, and South Korea, as well as emerging economies such as Vietnam, Indonesia, and Argentina.

Beyond balancing trade, the White House highlighted a surge in domestic investment. Big firms have committed to returning their operations and workforce to the United States with the backing of the government, which has made the position that trade policy can be an industrial growth and employment driver, Trump’s argument stronger.

Tariffs are still a divisive subject, on the one hand, authorities praise them for providing protection to domestic industries while on the other hand, they are condemned for being cost inflators, but the current government continues to claim that they have made US trade policy more assertive globally during its second term by using the very same method to acquire more advantageous trade terms and make the country’s economy stronger.