Stay informed with free updates

Simply sign up to the US trade myFT Digest — delivered directly to your inbox.

US goods imports plunged by nearly a fifth in April, as President Donald Trump’s tariffs disrupted trade flows into the world’s biggest economy.

Imports of goods for April totalled $276.1bn, down 19.8 per cent from March, according to the Census Bureau’s advance economic indicators report.

The fall marks a turnaround from March, when companies rushed to buy foreign goods before Trump’s April 2 “liberation day” tariffs announcement. US groups must now contend with a broad series of import taxes, including big tariffs on China and a universal 10 per cent levy.

Trump paused steeper so-called reciprocal tariffs on most countries on April 9, but the current set of levies was still enough to bring the overall tariff level to multi-decade highs.

A US trade court ruled on Wednesday that Trump’s “liberation day” tariff scheme was illegal, but an appeals court the following day allowed them to remain in effect until an objection from the government is reviewed.

This is a developing story