A new government report explodes one of the key promises in President Donald Trump’s tariff policy.
Last April, Trump announced a slew of tariffs that would hit nearly every country on earth—a move he said would stop companies from importing goods, bring manufacturing jobs back to the United States, and lower the trade deficit.
But the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis on Thursday released its monthly trade report, and it found that the trade deficit—or the difference between the amount of goods that companies import into the U.S. vs. export abroad—rose by 95% in November.
Yes, 95%—the biggest one-month spike in since 1992.
According to the BEA report, exports of American-made goods fell by $10.9 billion in November, to $292.1 billion. That’s a 3.6% decline from October. And imports rose by $16.8 billion, to $348.9 billion, making for a 5.0% spike since October.
That means American companies are still importing more goods than they are exporting, despite Trump’s claims that he was ushering in a new American manufacturing resurgence.
In fact, manufacturing jobs in the United States declined in 2025, with factory workers losing 8,000 jobs in December, per a Bureau of Labor Statistics estimate released earlier this month. Indeed, since Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs, factory employment has fallen by more than 70,000 jobs, according to Reuters.
What’s more, prices are still increasing—despite Trump’s claim to have “solved” inflation and that the cost-of-living issue is “done.”
A container ship is moored at the Port of Long Beach, in California, last April.
It’s no wonder consumer sentiment is falling off a cliff.
Dana Peterson, chief economist at The Conference Board, which measures consumer confidence, said in a Tuesday news release, “References to prices and inflation, oil and gas prices, and food and grocery prices remained elevated.”
Of course, a focus on lowering imports in order to bring back manufacturing was never a sound strategy. American workers want higher-paying jobs, not jobs doing menial labor on assembly lines.
Yet that was Trump’s stated purpose for Trump’s tariffs, with Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a billionaire, saying at the time that Trump’s tariffs would ensure that Americans would work in factories “for the rest of your life” and like it. Yeah, no thanks, bud.
Ultimately, Trump’s tariffs have done nothing but cause pain for the American people.
It’s why polling shows Americans loathe the policy, with just 37% of registered voters supporting tariffs, according to a Fox News poll released Wednesday.
And while Americans recoil in horror at the violent goons Trump has unleashed on Americans, it’s the fact that the economy still sucks that will do the Republican Party in this November.
