Trade statistics released today by the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis show the real U.S. trade deficit in goods increased by $64.4 billion in 2025, a 5.7% increase from 2024.
The real goods deficit increased by 14.8% from November to December alone. The nominal deficit in goods and services was nearly unchanged, falling from $903.5 billion to $901.5 billion.
That’s because the surplus in services, which are not subject to tariffs, increased slightly more than the deficit in goods increased.
The goods trade deficit for 2025 grew despite an increase in the monthly U.S. tariff rate from 2.2% in January to 9.4% in December.
These statistics contradict President Trump’s claim yesterday that tariffs have reduced the trade deficit by 78%.
“The newest trade statistics show that by the Trump Administration’s preferred measure, tariffs are not achieving their intended goals. This should surprise no one,” Bryan Riley, Director of NTU’s Free Trade Initiative, said. “Tariffs affect both exports and imports. More importantly, today’s trade deficit figures show that Trump’s so-called ‘emergency’ tariffs are not justified.
“Trade deficits are not a national economic emergency, as alleged by the Trump Administration. The growing 2025 trade deficit should not detract from reminders from the Trump Administration about how well our economy is performing. This is something Supreme Court justices and members of Congress should pay attention to when reviewing Trump’s tariff actions this year,” Riley said.
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