The U.S. trade deficit soared to a record $140.5 billion in March as consumers and businesses alike tried to get ahead of President Donald Trump’s latest and most sweeping tariffs — with federal data showing an enormous stockpiling of pharmaceutical products.

The deficit — which measures the gap between the value of goods and services the U.S. sells abroad against what it buys — has roughly doubled over the last year. In March 2024, Commerce Department records show, that gap was just under $68.6 billion.

According to federal data released on Tuesday, U.S. exports for goods and services totaled about $278.5 billion in March, while imports climbed to nearly $419 billion. That’s up $500 million and $17.8 billion, respectively, from February trade.

Consumer goods led the imports surge — increasing by $22.5 billion in March. And pharma products in particular climbed $20.9 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau and Bureau of Economic Analysis noted, signaling that drugmakers sought to get ahead of Trump’s threats to slap tariffs on the sector.

Imports of “capital goods,” like computers, as well as automotive parts and cars, also increased in March. But industrial supplies and materials, such as metal and crude oil coming into the U.S., fell — notably as steel and aluminum tariffs and other levies impacting energy took effect. And service-based imports like travel also decreased.

Overall, imports are flooding into the U.S. for products that have — or are feared to soon be — caught in the crosshairs of the ongoing trade wars. With the exception of China, higher tariff rates for many countries have since been postponed — but other sweeping levies remain.

The White House insists that new tariffs will help close long-standing trade deficits (the U.S. hasn’t sold the rest of the world more than it’s bought since 1975), reinvigorate manufacturing in America and generate government revenue. But economists are warning of significant consequences for businesses, households and economies worldwide under the levies that Trump has proposed.

These new tariffs are already increasing operating costs for businesses that rely on a global supply chain — which, in turn, will hike prices for a range of goods that consumers buy each day.

The recent surge in imports reflects efforts by companies across the country to bring in foreign goods before more duties kicked in. New orders for manufactured durable goods, for example, jumped 9.2% to $315.7 billion in March, Census Bureau data released last month shows.

All of this contributed to shrinking economic growth in the first three months of the year.

Imports grew at a total 41% pace for that period, its fastest rate since 2020, shaving 5 percentage points off first-quarter growth. But that surge is likely to reverse in the second quarter, removing some weight on GDP.

— Associated Press

Britain and India reach trade deal

Britain and India agreed to a trade deal Tuesday, strengthening economic ties between two of the world’s largest economies amid President Donald Trump’s upheaval of the global trade system.

The deal, which the British government said would increase bilateral trade by 25.5 billion pounds ($34 billion), comes three years after the negotiations began.

The British government said India had reduced 90% of tariffs on goods, and most of those would become tariff-free within a decade. Duties on British whiskey and gin would be halved, to 75%, and eventually be lowered to 40%. India will also reduce its car tariffs, which exceed 100%, to 10% under a quota. Britain, in turn, reduced tariffs on clothes, footwear and food products, including frozen prawns.

Last year, trade in goods and services between India, the world’s fifth-largest economy, and Britain, the world’s sixth, totaled 42.6 billion pounds, according to British data.

WeightWatchers to file for quick bankruptcy

WeightWatchers said Tuesday it is filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection to eliminate $1.15 billion in debt and focus on its transition into a telehealth services provider.

Parent WW International Inc. said it has the support of nearly three-quarters of its debt holders. It expects to emerge from bankruptcy within 45 days, if not sooner.

WeightWatchers, which was founded more than 60 years ago, has struggled recently. In 2023, the company moved into the prescription drug weight loss business — particularly with the $106 million acquisition of Sequence, now WeightWatchers Clinic, a telehealth service that helps users get prescriptions for drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Trulicity.

— From news services