US President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference in the White House on the same day about the Supreme Court’s decision to declare tariffs invalid, February 20, 2026.Image: keystone
The US President asserts that the US economy is booming during his term in office. But an expert can only laugh at the results of his trade policy.
February 21, 2026, 1:20 p.mFebruary 21, 2026, 1:20 p.m
The US Department of Commerce presented new figures on Thursday. The trade deficit, which US President Donald Trump repeatedly criticizes, has therefore hardly changed: Imports of goods and services exceeded their exports by around $901.5 billion. That’s only around two billion dollars less than in 2024.
The deficit is due to trade in goods: This rose by 2.1 percent to a record high of almost 1,241 billion dollars, while the surplus in trade in services increased by 8.9 percent to 339.5 billion dollars.
The Canadian news channel CBC News wanted to know what these numbers say about the effectiveness of the US government’s tariff policy. The expert Justin Wolfers, professor of politics and economics, had a clear answer: He had to laugh out loud.
Tariffs are no help
After Wolfers had calmed down, he replied: If the US trade deficit in 2025 was larger than in 2024 and there were high tariffs and a trade war last year that did not exist before, it is clear: Trump’s tariffs have not helped narrow the trade deficit.
Wolfers also made it clear that Trump’s economic policy was generally wrong. You can’t run a country like a company. In addition, a trade deficit is not the appropriate size to determine whether a country is doing well or badly economically. According to Wolfers, it is fundamentally irrelevant whether a country has a trade deficit as long as there is enough money to finance all relevant things.
Wolfers explained what this means in concrete terms using an example: He also has a trade deficit with his supermarket because he always pays there, but the supermarket never buys anything from him. But that is logically not a problem. Because he doesn’t go there to get paid, but to buy products. However, he receives his money from his university.
Supreme Court intervenes
The US Supreme Court overturned much of Trump’s customs policy on Friday. According to the US Supreme Court, numerous tariffs imposed by the US President last year are invalid. However, Trump then announced that he would alternative routes for new taxes to search. He also wants to introduce 10 percent base tariffs worldwide in the coming days.
In the past, Trump has repeatedly criticized the fact that the USA imports more goods than it exports. However, experts question whether the country even has enough capacity to compensate for import volumes. In addition, Trump consistently excludes the services sector, which plays a key role in the strength of the US economy.