In January, U.S. imports experienced a significant increase of 12.1% compared to the previous month. Experts suggest that American companies are stockpiling goods to prepare for the tariff hikes proposed by President Donald Trump on imported products.
Globally, trade expanded by 1.1% in January compared to December, according to the World Trade Monitor published by the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB). This report, released monthly, tracks the evolution of international trade. December had already seen a global trade increase of 0.8%. The CPB also highlighted a worldwide import growth of 2.1% in January, alongside a modest export growth of 0.1%. Meanwhile, global industrial production showed a slight decline of 0.1%, a contrast to the 0.8% increase observed in December. A notable factor in this contraction is reduced output in the Japanese manufacturing sector.
On an annual basis, U.S. imports surged even more dramatically, showing a 24% increase compared to January of the previous year. The CPB had previously indicated that the tariff measures would have a limited overall impact on global trade volumes. Instead, they predict a shift in trade flows, with decreased exports to the U.S. being offset by increased exports to regions like the European Union. The policy of raising tariffs aims to protect American industries from foreign competitors and encourage consumers to buy domestically produced goods by making imports more expensive. However, experts question the effectiveness of this approach, citing limited domestic alternatives for some foreign goods and the risk of retaliatory tariffs from other nations.