Tariffs rerouted trade
An analysis says Donald Trump's tariff campaign didn't so much shrink America's overall trade gap as shift it — the deficit with China fell while it widened with Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. (cnbctv18.com) Nearly 2,000 importers launched legal challenges after a Supreme Court ruling tied to the measures, and the report says the burden of tariffs largely landed on U.S. consumers. (cnbctv18.com) Spain's prime minister Pedro Sánchez made another trip to Beijing this weekend, which one China‑aligned outlet framed as an example of European governments hedging between Washington and Beijing. (news.cgtn.com)
Donald Trump’s tariffs cut the United States trade deficit with China, but the gap largely reappeared in trade with Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. (csis.org) A Center for Strategic and International Studies analysis published April 9 said China’s share of United States imports was nearly 25 percent in 2017, about 15 percent in 2024, and below 10 percent in the first 11 months of 2025. The same analysis said Mexico and Vietnam gained the most market share as importers shifted supply chains. (csis.org) The broader United States goods trade deficit still reached $901 billion in 2025, according to Reuters reporting cited by CNBC on February 20. CNBC TV18, citing a Reuters analysis published April 11, said the deficit fell with China while widening with Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. (cnbc.com, cnbctv18.com) Economists have also found that tariffs mostly raised costs inside the United States rather than abroad. A Federal Reserve Bank of New York blog published February 12 said nearly 90 percent of the 2025 tariffs’ economic burden fell on United States firms and consumers. (newyorkfed.org) The tariff fight is now moving through the courts as well as ports. The Supreme Court ruled 6-3 on February 20 that tariffs imposed under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act were illegal, and CNBC reported the government could owe more than $175 billion in refunds to importers. (cnbc.com) Some tariffs remain in place even after that ruling. The Tax Policy Center said on April 6 that the court struck down the International Emergency Economic Powers Act tariffs, but other Trump tariffs, including some dating to 2018, still stand. (taxpolicycenter.org) That helps explain why the trade map keeps changing instead of simply shrinking. Companies can reroute assembly and sourcing through lower-tariff countries, especially in North America and Southeast Asia, while still selling into the United States market. (csis.org, newyorkfed.org) The politics now extend beyond Washington and Beijing. Reuters reported on April 8 that Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez would visit China from April 11 to 15, his fourth trip there in four years, as Madrid sought to build commercial ties with the world’s second-largest economy. (usnews.com) China’s government said Sánchez would meet Xi Jinping, Li Qiang and Zhao Leji in Beijing during that trip. As tariffs redirect trade flows and legal challenges pile up, the central fact has held: the commerce moved, and much of the bill stayed in the United States. (english.www.gov.cn, newyorkfed.org)
