Imports from the United States increased by 12.1 percent in January 2025 compared to December 2024. This is probably due to American companies anticipating the tariff increases that President Donald Trump wants to impose on foreign goods, according to the latest World Trade Monitor (WTM) from the Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis (CPB).

According to the WTM, US imports also increased year-on-year, up 24 percent from January 2024.

Trump has made import tariffs a key part of his policy since 2018. With this measure, he wants to protect American companies from foreign competition. After all, the higher tariffs make foreign goods more expensive, which increases the preference for American products.

Trump recently announced that he wants to impose import duties of 25 percent on goods from the European Union starting April 1. He also surprised with a new date for tariffs on products from Mexico and Canada, which would go into effect on April 2. This means that additional import duties will be levied on various products, including textiles and leather goods. However, it is not clear which product categories contributed to the increase in imports.

The next World Trade Monitor with data for February 2025 will be published on April 25.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.