Trump's tariff policy: US economy surprisingly shrinks in the first quarter!

The first quarter of 2025 saw an unexpected contraction of the US economy by an annualized 0.3 percent, according to reports from Deutschlandfunk emerges. This development is surprising as experts had only expected growth to slow down. The Commerce Department in Washington released this initial estimate, which many analysts see as worrying.

US President Donald Trump attributes the negative development to the economic policy of his predecessor Joe Biden. He emphasizes that the customs measures he has introduced, particularly special levies on imports from China, will have positive effects in the long term. However, experts estimate that Trump's aggressive tariff policy has already led to uncertainty in the financial markets, which has exacerbated the slowdown in the economy.

Influence of tariff policy and past growth rates

In the final quarter of 2024, the US economy grew by 2.4 percent, which makes the sudden decline in the first quarter of 2025 appear all the more dramatic. How Time online reported, a slowdown in growth was already observed towards the end of 2024. Trump denies that the current economic situation is linked to his tariff policy and calls for patience from the population. Nevertheless, experts such as Stephan Bales from KfW warn of increasingly realistic concerns about a possible recession, which are exacerbated by economic growth in the first quarter.

The high import figures, which Trump's economic advisor Peter Navarro sees as a one-off effect, could have a negative impact on future economic development. Analyst Dirk Chlench notes that the situation in the US economy is tense and further negative trends are likely to emerge in the coming data.