President Trump has been vindicated once again with new data showing the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services dropping by a record amount between March and April 2025, with press accounts confirming that the decrease in the deficit was the biggest on record in American history.
For context, after months of the leftist media hand-wringing over tariffs and so-called “trade wars” with other countries, the Trump-era strategy of confronting unfair trade practices head-on appears to be delivering major results. According to coverage from Breitbart News on June 5, 2025, imports have plummeted by a record-setting 16.3%, showing that President Trump has the ability to restore the nation’s trade balance.
Furthermore, Breitbart reported that exports rose by 3% between March and April 2025, which makes it clear that fears of President Trump’s tariff strategy derailing the U.S. economy are unfounded. In addition, a Commerce report published on June 5, 2025, backed up Breitbart’s reporting, revealing that the U.S. exported $289.4 billion of goods against imports worth $351 billion.
Moreover, the Commerce report showed that exports increased by $6.2 billion in April, with the largest growth coming from industrial supplies and materials, finished metal shapes, and nonmonetary gold. On the other hand, the report clarified that American exports of cars and engines decreased by $3.3 billion.
Additionally, the report went into detail about the trade surpluses between the U.S. and several countries, including the Netherlands ($18.1 billion), South and Central America ($15.5 billion), and the United Kingdom ($5.9 billion). However, according to the report, the U.S. still has a deficit of $71.1 billion with China and of $82.1 billion with the EU. The report clarified, “The deficit with the European Union increased $44.6 billion to $82.1 billion in the first quarter.”
Despite the positive impact that President Trump’s tariff strategy has clearly had, some economists have fiercely criticized the president’s plan to revitalize the economy. According to press accounts, conservative economist Michael Strain has been one of the most vocal critics of the tariff strategy, telling Mediaite’s Dan Abrams on May 29, 2025, that the reciprocal tariff plan “doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.”
Building on his point, Strain made the case that Tariffs may only have their intended effect on certain goods, saying that in other cases “where either the foreign seller is going to bear a lot of the burden of the tariff, or the domestic is going to be a lot of the burden of the tariff.” He added, “The kind of key point here is that consumer prices are going to go up, and the prices facing businesses who import parts and supplies are going to go up.”
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Commenting specifically on the major trade deficit between the United States and China, Strain said that in terms of its trade relationship with the U.S., “China is its own thing,” adding, “China is a bad actor in global commerce. China breaks all sorts of rules. They steal all sorts of business practices and information, and so maybe we want to do something aggressive on China.”
Featured image credit: @POTUS via X