Tariffs are once again at the center of U.S. trade policy. Under President Trump’s current term, sweeping new tariffs have been announced, adding to the duties that remained from the last trade war.

This roundup covers 50+ key statistics on U.S. tariffs and trade developments from 2023 to 2025—including what’s changed, who’s paying, and how it’s affecting the broader economy.

US Tariff Statistics and Trends 2023–2025

The U.S. has shifted from historically low tariff levels to broad-based duties affecting nearly all imports. Policy changes under both the Biden and Trump administrations have targeted strategic sectors, foreign competitors, and supply chain vulnerabilities. These statistics trace how tariff policy has evolved in the past two years.

Tariffs at Historic Lows – Until Now:

Before the recent tariff escalations, the U.S. had one of the lowest tariff rates in the world – a simple average MFN tariff of about 3.3%. (By comparison, China’s was 7.5%, the EU’s 5%, India’s 17%.)
New “reciprocal” tariffs in 2025 are now rapidly raising the U.S. average above this low base.

“Reciprocal” Tariff – 10% Across-the-Board:

In April 2025, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency over the trade deficit and ordered an immediate 10% across-the-board tariff on most imports.
This sweeping surcharge – part of a “Reciprocal Trade” mandate – applied to nearly all countries and products, aiming to pressure trading partners with higher tariffs.

Hefty Auto Import Tariffs:

Starting April 3, 2025, the U.S. began imposing a 25% tariff on imported passenger automobiles and light trucks under a Section 232 national security action.
This marked the first time such broad auto tariffs were implemented (a long-threatened move finally realized), instantly raising the cost of foreign-made cars by one-quarter.

Metals Tariffs Persist (and Expand):

The 25% steel and 10% aluminum tariffs from 2018 remained in force through 2023–24, and were even tightened against adversaries.
In February 2023, the U.S. announced a crushing 200% tariff on all Russian aluminum imports, effectively a ban, as part of sanctions over Ukraine.
By contrast, allies like the EU and UK saw earlier steel/aluminum tariffs eased into quotas, but no full removal.

Targeting “Strategic” Imports from China:

The Biden administration largely left Trump’s China tariffs in place, but in May 2024 it increased tariffs on roughly $18 billion of imports from China in strategic sectors – including steel, semiconductors, electric vehicles, batteries, and critical minerals.
This staged tariff hike (announced after a four-year policy review) was billed as a “de-risking” measure to reduce reliance on China.

Tariff Exemptions to Ease Costs:

To mitigate impacts on U.S. industries, the USTR continued a product exclusion program.
In late 2023, it extended tariff exemptions for 352 categories of Chinese goods (plus 77 COVID-related medical goods) – allowing those imports to enter tariff-free.
These exclusions (429 in total) were renewed into 2024 to give U.S. firms relief on components and inputs.

Tariffs Filling Treasury Coffers:

U.S. customs duty collections hit record levels – about $80.3 billion in FY2023.
That’s roughly double the annual tariff revenue before the trade war, now accounting for ~2% of total federal tax receipts. (For perspective, the government’s haul from import tariffs in 2023 exceeded what it collected from estate and gift taxes by over 2×.)
These tariffs function as a tax on importers – and ultimately consumers – flowing into the U.S. Treasury.

US Trade Deficit Statistics

Trade deficits have fluctuated sharply since 2023, shaped by shifting demand, sourcing adjustments, and retaliatory tariffs. While the overall deficit shrank in 2023, new tariffs and supply chain shifts have triggered a renewed gap in early 2025. This section tracks key changes in imports, exports, and trade balances.

Trade Deficit Narrows in 2023:

The U.S. international trade deficit (goods and services) fell to $773.3 billion in 2023 – an 18.7% decrease from 2022’s record ~$951 billion gap.
This was the largest one-year deficit decline on record, as import demand cooled and exports grew modestly.

Imports Down, Exports Up:

In 2023 U.S. imports shrank 3.6% while exports inched up 1.2%.
Americans imported about $143 billion less in goods and services than the prior year, reflecting weaker domestic spending and shifts in sourcing, even as U.S. exports earned $35 billion more abroad.

Goods vs. Services Trade:

The goods trade deficit remains huge despite easing in 2023.
The U.S. ran approximately a $1.06 trillion goods trade deficit for 2023 (imports $3.19 T vs. exports $2.13 T), offset partly by a $288 billion surplus in services trade.
The services surplus jumped 24% in one year as sectors like travel and business services rebounded, helping pare the overall deficit.

Record Monthly Gap in 2025:

The trade gap has widened again in early 2025. In March 2025, the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services hit $140.5 billion for one month – the largest monthly deficit ever recorded.
A surge in imports (perhaps rushed in ahead of new tariffs) and strong consumer demand contributed to this record shortfall.

U.S. Trade at Highs (Pre-Tariff Surge):

Americans still buy and sell an unprecedented volume of goods: In 2023, U.S. imports of goods and services totaled about $3.83 trillion, while exports totaled $3.05 trillion.

Trade with China Slowing:

U.S.-China trade has cooled from its peak. In 2024, U.S. goods imports from China were $438.9 billion (up a modest 2.8% from 2023), while U.S. goods exports to China were $143.5 billion (down 2.9% from 2023).
This imbalance yielded a $295.4 billion U.S. goods trade deficit with China for 2024.

China Deficit Off Record Highs:

The U.S. trade deficit with China, though still large, is well below its peak a few years ago. The 2024 goods deficit of ~$295 billion is 30% smaller than the record $418 billion gap in 2018, when tariffs were first imposed.
Tariffs and sourcing shifts have curtailed bilateral trade somewhat (the bilateral deficit had exceeded $300B annually from 2017–2022).

Tariffs and Inflation Statistics

Tariffs have driven up costs for consumers and businesses alike. Multiple studies show that tariffs are passed through almost entirely to domestic prices, adding thousands of dollars in annual costs for U.S. households. These statistics show how tariffs have affected inflation, business confidence, and growth.

Tariff Costs Passed to Consumers:

Research shows that import tariffs have a near-100% pass-through to domestic U.S. prices.
In other words, foreign exporters rarely absorb the tax – U.S. firms and consumers pay it. Empirical studies find tariff pass-through rates “often near 100%,” meaning Americans see almost the full tariff amount added onto import prices.

Noticeable Impact on Prices:

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that existing tariffs have raised overall U.S. consumer prices by about 0.5% (half a percentage point) – effectively a tax that reduces the average real household income by roughly $1,300 per year.

Hundreds in Added Costs per Family:

For a typical U.S. household, the current roster of tariffs represents an extra burden of over $1,200 per year in higher costs (via pricier goods). And that was before the latest 2025 tariff wave.

New Trade War = $3,800 per Household:

If all of President Trump’s newly announced 2025 tariffs take effect and remain, U.S. consumers will pay an estimated $3,800 more per year for the same products.
Just the initial “Liberation Day” tariffs unveiled in April 2025 (the across-the-board hikes) are expected to add about $2,100 in annual costs for a typical household.
Lower-income households, who spend a larger share on tariff-affected goods (like food, clothing, appliances), are hit proportionally hardest.

Business Confidence Sours:

Tariffs have quickly become a top concern for American businesses. Over 30% of U.S. CFOs surveyed in Q1 2025 cited “trade and tariffs” as their most pressing business worry – a huge jump from only 8.3% a quarter earlier.

Investment Plans Scaled Back:

Facing higher import costs and global uncertainty, many firms are cutting spending. About 25% of companies (in a national CFO survey) said they plan to reduce hiring or capital investments in 2025 due to the tariff increases.
In the manufacturing sector, the toll is even greater – roughly 32% of manufacturers surveyed expected to dial back hiring, and 29% to cut capital expenditures, as a direct response to the tariffs.

Output and Jobs Hit Over Time:

Economists estimate the cumulative effect of the U.S. and retaliatory tariffs will be to shrink U.S. GDP by around 1.0% in the long run if the tariffs persist.
That’s roughly $300 billion in lost output over a decade. By 2019, the first round of tariffs had already resulted in an estimated 200,000 fewer U.S. jobs than without the trade war – and that was before the far more sweeping measures of 2025, which will magnify the drag on growth and employment.

Case Study – Appliances:

Tariffs on consumer goods can spike prices markedly. When the U.S. slapped tariffs on imported washing machines in 2018, domestic washer prices jumped about 12% in the following year.
Even dryers (which weren’t tariffed) rose ~8%, as washer makers bundled price hikes.
Consumers ended up paying an extra ~$88 per washer on average – nearly all of the 20% tariff cost.

Supply Chain Statistics

As tariffs reshaped trade incentives, importers have diversified sourcing away from China and toward Mexico, Southeast Asia, and domestic alternatives. Manufacturing output has seen mixed results, with modest reshoring in some sectors but little change in jobs. This section outlines how global supply chains are adjusting.

“Made in China” Losing Share:

The tariff battle has accelerated a reorientation of supply chains. U.S. imports from China have fallen from 22% of all U.S. imports in 2017 to about 17% in 2022 – essentially reverting to China’s share from the mid-2000s.

Southeast Asia and Mexico Step Up:

Other countries have filled the gap left by China. Vietnam’s share of U.S. imports roughly doubled to 4% by 2022 (from ~2% in 2017) as firms shifted sourcing of furniture, apparel, and electronics to Vietnam.
Similarly, imports from India, Thailand, and Taiwan have all grown. Mexico and Canada have also expanded their U.S. market share under the tariff shelter of USMCA.

Mexico Now Top U.S. Trade Partner:

In 2022, Mexico eclipsed China to become the United States’ largest goods trading partner.
U.S. imports from Mexico reached ~$454 billion in 2022 (about 14% of U.S. import spending), edging out imports from China for the first time.

Reshoring Talk, Mixed Results:

The tariff regime aimed to boost American manufacturing, but the evidence is mixed.
U.S. manufacturing output did rise in 2021–2022 with post-pandemic demand, yet by early 2023 the manufacturing sector slipped into a mild recession as higher input costs (partly tariff-driven) and cooling demand took hold.
Factory construction is up (e.g. new chip and EV battery plants), spurred by industrial bills like the CHIPS Act, though these are subsidy-driven shifts more than tariff-driven.
In summary, some supply lines are slowly moving onshore or to allies, but a dramatic return of manufacturing from China has not yet materialized in employment data (manufacturing employment in 2023 hovered around 12.9 million, about the same as in 2018).

Retaliatory Tariffs Statistics

U.S. tariff actions have prompted aggressive retaliation from trading partners including China, the EU, and Canada. These countermeasures now cover hundreds of billions in U.S. exports, raising costs and deepening global trade tensions. Legal disputes and alliance negotiations have further complicated the picture.

Tit-for-Tat: China’s Retaliation Soars:

China has hit back hard against the new U.S. tariffs. By April 2025, Beijing imposed an 84% tariff on all imports from the United States – a massive retaliatory move after the U.S. raised its duties on Chinese goods above 100%.
China’s average tariff on U.S. products jumped to roughly 147.6% on weighted average (compared to about 20% before).
Essentially, China has now slapped tariffs on 100% of American goods, up from about 58% of U.S. exports previously.

EU Strikes Back at U.S.:

Longtime allies have not stayed on the sidelines. In April 2025, the European Union approved retaliatory tariffs targeting more than $22 billion worth of U.S. goods.
European officials levied duties on a range of American products – from soybeans to motorcycles to cosmetics – in response to Trump’s across-the-board import tariffs.
The EU warned that U.S. protectionism “harms both sides,” even as it moved to shield its own industries.

Global Trade Tensions Escalate:

Other partners have responded in kind. Canada, initially exempted from some U.S. measures under USMCA, imposed its own retaliatory tariffs on select U.S. goods in early 2025 after the U.S. targeted Canadian steel/aluminum and threatened other sectors.
By April 2025, an estimated $330 billion of U.S. exports worldwide were subject to foreign retaliatory tariffs (covering products from agriculture to whiskey to motorcycles).
These counter-tariffs, if fully applied, could shave an additional 0.2% off U.S. GDP according to analysts.

WTO: U.S. Tariffs Illegal – and Unresolved:

The World Trade Organization has legally challenged America’s tariff moves. In late 2022, a WTO dispute panel ruled that the U.S. Section 232 steel and aluminum tariffs violate WTO rules, rejecting the U.S. claim that they were genuine national security measures.
The U.S. “strongly rejected” the ruling and has refused to remove the metals duties. Washington appealed the case into the void – since the U.S. had already crippled the WTO Appellate Body, no final adjudication is possible.
In effect, the U.S. tariffs remain, and the WTO’s enforcement mechanism remains paralyzed.

Trade Alliances in Flux:

Trade partners are adjusting via new alliances. The U.S. and EU, for instance, have been negotiating a Global Arrangement on Sustainable Steel to resolve the metals tariff dispute by end of 2023 – but missed that deadline amid disagreements.
Similarly, Indo-Pacific nations in 2023 engaged with the U.S. in the proposed Indo-Pacific Economic Framework (IPEF) as an alternative to traditional free trade deals.
However, IPEF talks (which notably exclude China) have not yet produced a finalized trade agreement or tariff reductions as of May 2025.

Digital Trade Statistics

The U.S. continues to dominate in services and digital exports, which provide a substantial trade surplus. Digital services—from software to streaming—now account for the majority of all U.S. service exports. Despite this strength, global disputes over digital taxes and trade rules are on the rise.

Booming Services Surplus:

The United States’ trade surplus in services hit $288.2 billion in 2023 – up sharply from ~$232B in 2022.
U.S. service exports (like finance, tech, intellectual property, tourism) have grown to about 3.7% of U.S. GDP, reflecting the country’s strength in high-value services.
This surplus helps offset roughly one-fifth of the goods trade deficit each year.

Digital Trade Dominates:

Digitally delivered services (such as software, streaming, and business process services) now make up the bulk of U.S. services trade.
In 2023, U.S. exports of digitally deliverable services reached $655.5 billion (up from $637B in 2022).
These digital exports – which include everything from cloud computing to Hollywood content – accounted for 64% of all U.S. services exports in 2023.

Digital Services Surplus:

The U.S. ran about a $266.8 billion trade surplus in digitally deliverable services in 2023 (exports $655.5B vs imports ~$389B).
This surplus alone nearly matches the overall U.S. services surplus, underscoring how competitive American companies are in tech, media, and other online services.
Growth in digital exports (which rose ~3% in 2023) continues to outpace growth in goods exports over recent decades.

Global Leader in Tech Services:

The United States remains the world’s largest exporter of digital services. U.N. data shows U.S. digitally delivered service exports were about 15% of the global total in 2023 (the top share for any single country).
With over $640+ billion in annual digital service exports, the U.S. well exceeds the next-largest digital exporters (the EU and India) and continues to leverage its strengths in software, entertainment, and financial services globally.

Emerging Digital Trade Issues:

Even as digital trade grows, new “digital tariffs” disputes loom. The U.S. has been fighting foreign digital services taxes (DSTs) aimed at American tech firms – issuing tariff threats against countries like France, the U.K., and India, though pausing them pending OECD tax negotiations.
Additionally, the WTO’s longstanding moratorium on digital duties (banning tariffs on e-commerce transmissions) faced debate at the 2023 WTO ministerial, with some countries suggesting it should lapse.
The U.S. advocates to extend the ban to keep digital trade tariff-free, given its huge surplus in this arena.

Conclusion

Between 2023 and mid-2025, U.S. tariff policy has moved sharply back toward protectionism. With new tariffs layered on top of existing ones, import costs have climbed, trade partners have responded, and global supply chains continue to adjust. The full impact on prices, growth, and international relationships is still unfolding.

84 Critical Tariff Statistics Impacting Americans (2025)