During Donald Trump's presidency and subsequent policy moves in 2025-2026, the U.S. trade deficit has generally increased despite aggressive tariff policies aimed at reducing it, with the deficit rising to $765 billion between January and September 2025, an increase of $110 billion from the same period in 2024.

Persistent Growth: Despite imposing tariffs (including 25% on steel/aluminum and 10%+ on Chinese imports), the trade deficit has continued to grow, hitting $839.5 billion through November 2025, which is ~4% higher than the same period in 2024.

2025 Policy Shifts: In April 2025, the White House initiated "reciprocal tariffs" to balance trade deficits with individual nations.

Impact on Sectors: Tariffs have increased costs for U.S. manufacturers, for instance, by making steel-reliant production (like automobiles) more expensive domestically.

Fluctuations: While the annual trend shows an increase, short-term fluctuations occurred, such as a drop in the October 2025 trade deficit to the lowest level since 2009 due to temporary market shifts.

Key Partners: Significant deficits remain with Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, and the European Union.

(http://www.autoadmit.com/thread.php?thread_id=5832369&forum_id=2\u0026mark_id=5310752#49655080)