The impact of President Trump’s trade war with the world is easy to illustrate — and might even put a smile on his face.
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President Trump might not be offended to be called “a bull in a china shop” when it comes to international trade. In fact, it might even bring a smile to his face.
Merchandise trade can be complicated under the best of circumstances. Throw in a variety of tariffs – against the world, against specific countries, against specific products, threaten them, impose them, pause them, grant exemptions, increase them, reduce them – and trade gets more complicated.
Here are five data visualizations that make the impact a little easier to understand.
U.S. trade with China is accounting for 9.42% of all U.S. trade this year, on track to finish below 10% of all U.S. trade for the first time in 22 years.
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1. China trade in steepest decline in two decades
China stands a chance of finishing the year below 10% of all U.S. trade for the first time in 22 years, a direct result of President Trump’s efforts that began in his first term, continued through President Joe Biden’s term, and shows no signs of slowing in Trump’s second term. Through July, the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data available, China is accounting for 9.42% of U.S. trade. In 2017, a year before Trump initiated the trade war with China, it accounted for a record 16.34% of all U.S. trade.
The U.S. trade deficit topped $1 billion for the fourth month this year in July, with the percentage of U.S. trade that is an export dropping to 37%.
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2. Deficit tops $100 billion for fourth month
For the fourth month this year, the U.S. trade deficit topped $100 billion. It had never topped $100 billion until May of last year but has now done so 10 of the last 15 months.
One of the primary goals of the U.S. trade war with China was to reduce the U.S. trade deficit.
To that point, the overall U.S. deficit had not reached $900 billion on an annual basis. It has now topped $1 trillion the last four years. It will break the 2024 record this year.
And that U.S. deficit with China? Ironically, it has fallen 42.16% when comparing the first seven months of this year with the first seven months of 2018. The U.S. deficit with the world has increased 68.21% in that same time period, with increases of more than 100% with Mexico, Canada, Taiwan, Switzerland, South Korea, Vietnam, Ireland, India, Thailand and other nations.
It was a July like no other for imports of gold into the United States. The total was nearly three times that of the previous record value in the month, set during the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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3. Gold price, U.S. imports soar
The price of an ounce of gold topped $3,000 and is now nearing $4,000. Gold often becomes a preferred safe-haven asset during times of economic uncertainty or instability, and Trump’s trade war is a contributing factor to that climate. The irony is that a flight to safety and a surge in gold imports, partly fueled by the trade war, have actually contributed to the growing U.S. trade deficit. Gold was the fifth most valuable U.S. import in the month of July. It had ranked No. 34 in 2024.
Mexico currently ranks as the top buyer of U.S. exports through the first seven months of 2025.
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4. Mexico takes another stab at trade trifecta
Mexico currently ranks as the United States’ top source of exports and imports. That makes it possible for Mexico to end the year as
- No. 1 trade partner, which it has been two years in a row, surpassing China and Canada,
- No. 1 source of U.S. imports, which it has also done two years in a row, surpassing China,
- No. 1 buyer of U.S. exports, which it has never been previously. In 2024, it narrowly missed surpassing Canada, which has been the top buyer of U.S. goods for decades.
New York’s JFK International Airport saw a tremendous spike in trade this year, led by the month of January, as Trump assumed office for his second term.
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5. Port rankings get shuffled … and reshuffled
The long reign of the Port of Los Angeles as the top U.S. port was cut short when it was surpassed by Port Laredo, a direct result of the U.S. trade war with China and the rise of Mexico as a trading partner. Now, a new kind of reshuffling is underway.
New York’s JFK International Airport was the nation’s top-ranked “port” through the first seven months of 2025, due almost exclusively to the massive influx of gold from Switzerland, a large processor of gold into bars. It came in two categories: articles with precious metals (HS 7115) beginning in the winter and the category of gold (HS 7108) in the summer.
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport ranked second through July, dominated by imports of the broad category of insulin, hormones and steroids. GLP-1 drugs such as Ozempic, originally prescribed for diabetes to control insulin levels, is now being widely used to help people lose weight.
JFK and O’Hare have slipped ahead of Port Laredo, which currently ranks third but had ranked first since replacing the Port of Los Angeles atop the rankings.
The Port of Laredo and the Port of Los Angeles were ranked third and fourth through July.
Don’t be surprised if there’s more reshuffling before the annual data is released early next year.
These five data visualizations simplify the complex impact of President Trump’s trade war on top U.S. trade partners, ports and commodities.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kenroberts/2025/09/26/disruption-from-trump-tariff-war-shown-in-these-5-data-visualizations/
