According to CNBC on April 30, the US economy in the first 3 months of 2025 recorded a decrease due to a sudden increase in imported goods while President Donald Trump launched a trade war with many countries.

According to the US Department of Commerce, the gross domestic product (GDP) in January to March 2025 decreased at an annual rate of 0.3%. This is the first quarter since Q1-2022 that the US GDP recorded negative growth.

Participating in the Dow Jones survey, some experts said they expected a 0.4% increase after US GDP in the fourth quarter of 2024 grew 2.4%.

However, Wall Street economists have recently downgraded their expectations to negative growth, largely due to a surprise surge in imports as businesses scrambled to get goods in before Mr. Trump announced reciprocal tariffs in early April.

In the first quarter of 2025, imports into the US increased by 41.3%, with imported goods increasing by 50.9%. This is the highest increase since 1974, excluding the COVID-19 pandemic.

Imports are counted as a deduction from GDP, so this negative growth may not be seen as too negative, as the trend is likely to reverse in the coming quarters.

Meanwhile, US exports in the same period recorded a 1.8% increase. Private investment also jumped 21.9% in the first quarter of 2025, which could also be due to the tariff momentum.

Slowing domestic consumption and a drop in federal spending were also among the reasons why US GDP declined last quarter.

US consumer personal spending rose 1.8% in the quarter, the slowest quarterly increase since the second quarter of 2023, down from a 4% increase in the previous quarter.

Federal government spending also fell 5.1% in the quarter, shaving about a third of a percentage point off GDP.

Responding to this negative news, President Trump said that the financial market plunge and negative economic growth were the responsibility of former President Biden.

"This is Biden's stock market, not Trump's," Trump tweeted on Truth Social on April 30. "Our country will boom, but we must get out of Biden's shadow."

Mr Trump's comments came after US GDP fell 0.3% in the first quarter of this year, sending financial markets tumbling. US GDP in the fourth quarter of 2024 recorded a 2.4% increase.

“This will take time and has nothing to do with tariffs. When the boom starts, everything will change completely. Be patient,” he wrote.