New report: US imports fell 4.5% in year after Liberation Day tariffs

The pullback in imports helped reduce the U.S. trade deficit, the report said. The monthly gap fell to $20.4 billion in October 2025, down 39% from September, before widening again. In June 2026, the deficit stood at $73.3 billion, down 5.6% from May as imports and exports both declined, with imports falling more sharply.

Imports rebounded 9% year-over-year in April 2026 after the Supreme Court’s February decision ending the IEEPA tariffs, according to the report.

Datamyne cautioned, however, that the tariff environment has remained unsettled. The IEEPA tariffs were followed by other trade measures, including Section 232 duties on steel, aluminum, autos and auto parts, as well as later Section 122 and Section 301 actions.

Mexico gains; China loses share

Mexico extended its lead as the largest U.S. import source, with imports rising 6.6% in the 12-month comparison period. Canada-origin imports fell 10.6%, while China slipped from the second-largest to the third-largest source after a 40.4% decline in exports to the United States, Datamyne said.

Taiwan and Vietnam were among the major gainers. Taiwan-origin imports increased 60.6% and Vietnam-origin shipments rose 47.8% in the initial April 2025 comparison cited by the report; continued growth elevated both countries into the top five U.S. import sources during the following year.

India, meanwhile, recorded only a 1.5% gain over the full comparison period after earlier growth was reversed amid escalating U.S.-India trade tensions and higher tariffs on Indian goods. Still, that was enough to move India into the top 10 import-source ranking, according to Datamyne.

The movement illustrates how sourcing decisions were influenced not simply by the overall tariff program but by country-specific rates, carve-outs and negotiated trade arrangements. The report noted 32 revisions to the U.S. Harmonized Tariff Schedule in 2025 and 15 more through Aug. 3, 2026, characterizing the pace of change as a sign of exceptional policy volatility.

Ocean volumes trail prior year

Waterborne import volumes, measured in twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs), declined 4.3% during the 12 months after Liberation Day. Importers briefly accelerated shipments in July and August 2025 ahead of the tariffs’ effective date, but monthly volumes from September 2025 through April 2026 lagged the same months a year earlier.

China remained the dominant origin for U.S. ocean imports despite an 18% decline in TEU volume. Vietnam’s waterborne volume rose 16%, Thailand’s increased 24%, and Indonesia entered the top 10 ocean-import origins after a 21% increase.

China also lost its leading position to Vietnam in two key containerized consumer-goods categories:

(Chart: Descartes Datamyne)

China nevertheless remained the largest source for several high-volume import categories, including auto and truck parts, articles of plastic, toys, refrigerators and freezers, plastic kitchenware, and plastic packing materials.

Autos decline as tech imports rise

The product mix also changed under the tariff regime. Automobile imports fell 9% and dropped to second place among leading U.S. merchandise import categories, behind automatic data-processing machines.

The increase in ADP-machine imports helped drive Taiwan’s advance among U.S. import sources. Taiwan accounted for 39% of U.S. ADP-machine imports, according to Datamyne. The report noted that Taiwan’s waterborne volume fell 8% despite an 83% increase in the value of its U.S.-bound imports, reflecting the role of airfreight for smaller, high-value technology products.

Thailand also gained importance in the technology supply chain, accounting for 35% of U.S. integrated-circuit imports, the report said.

Other changes were more dramatic. Imports of articles of precious metals fell 94%, contributing to Switzerland’s drop to 16 from the top 10 U.S. import origins. Tariffs affecting pharmaceuticals also weighed on Switzerland and Ireland, Datamyne said.

Continuing uncertainty

The report emphasized that, for importers, carriers and logistics providers, the end of the emergency tariffs program did not restore a stable trade-policy environment. Other threats loom in the form of continuing blanket, country-specific and sectoral tariffs, as well as prospective Section 301 measures tied to investigations of excess industrial capacity.

Read more articles by Stuart Chirls here.

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