February 21, 2026
It seems the whole goal of President Trump’s tariffs may have just collapsed. And I’m not talking about the Supreme Court ruling that said Trump’s emergency tariffs are illegal. I’m talking about this new report from Trump’s own government.
See – President Trump has been arguing since he came back into office – that he needed to impose all of these tariffs on the entire world because President Biden bungled trade policy and Trump inherited a mess. He says that mess centers around a huge trade deficit that was so high under Biden – that trump said it’s now a national security concern. Just so we’re clear — the trade deficit happens when for example — the US imports more goods and services from other countries than it exports – which means in theory that the United States is relying too heavily on foreign countries instead of producing enough goods and services here to support the American people. Trump said the solution to that huge trade deficit was tariffs. Trump said his tariffs on the entire world were going to solve the trade deficit problem and bring manufacturing back to the United States.
Well – in 2025 – with all Trump’s tariffs on the entire world – not only did the trade deficit problem not get solved – the trade deficit actually got worse.
According to Trump’s commerce department– the trade deficit for goods hit a record high of $1.241 trillion. Overall when you add services and goods together – overall the deficit was down in 2025 by just 0.2% so just a little bit from 2024 ($901.5b 2025/$903.5 b 2024). And on top of that – imports into the United States increased by about 5%. Which implies that – no– US businesses are not manufacturing goods in the United States they are still importing goods and reselling them to you at a higher cost. Even though trump has insisted that manufacturing has come “roaring” back. In December specifically the commerce department said the overall trade deficit surged 32.6%.
So the question is – what’s the point? As I reported in this video yesterday –you and me the American consumers and all the US businesses are the ones paying for these tariffs and they’re costing the average US household about $1,300 a year…and billions more for US businesses. So if they’re costing you and American businesses all this money – and they’re not necessarily bringing the deficit down in any substantial way – and imports are increasing — what’s the point? Are these tariffs really meant to fix the trade deficit? Or are they just a tool the president can use to wield authority over foreign countries whenever he feels like it?
Read the trade deficit report here.
