“The U.S. trade deficit for goods hit a record in 2025 despite Trump’s claim his signature tariffs would reduce it, new data shows. Trump declared the country’s goods trade deficit a national emergency last year and pledged to shrink it as part of efforts to revive U.S. manufacturing. Yesterday’s numbers add to previous data suggesting U.S. companies have generally not brought production back home—all while Trump’s tariff policy is being challenged in a Supreme Court case,” The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) said.

Instead of shrinking imports across the board, U.S. companies moved away from Chinese goods, which were hit with some of the highest tariffs in 2025, —and moved to other suppliers such as Vietnam and Mexico.

“The administration is trying to get far too much credit for shifting imports around a bit…The goods coming through Southeast Asia have enormously significant amounts of Chinese content,” CFR expert Brad Setser told the New York Times.