The U.S. continued a historic surge in foreign imports in February, ahead of sweeping new tariffs announced by President Donald Trump.
U.S. imports exceeded $290 billion in February 2025, making a 21% jump from February 2024 and setting the highest February total ever recorded, according to a USA TODAY analysis of U.S. Census trade data about goods imported for consumption.
February’s milestone built on January's record-breaking import rush, which was a 14-year monthly high at more than $320 billion. Traders in January hurried to build up inventories ahead of tariffs, according to a recent USA TODAY analysis.
Importers continued stockpiling goods in February, the third-largest month for imports on record, trailing only January 2025 and March 2020.
“The surge is simply because people are engaged in preemptive or anticipatory purchasing,” said Marcus Noland, executive vice president and director of studies at the Peterson Institute for International Economics, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.
Noland also noted that February is short, and the number of days in a month could affect how much trade happens. Import volumes averaged more than $10 billion a day in both January and February, USA TODAY found.
China, Canada, and Mexico – which together supply nearly half of the foreign goods consumed in the U.S. – continued to lead the import surge. These nations were key targets of tariffs that took effect last month:
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The tariff of 10% on Chinese goods went into effect on February 4 and was doubled to 20% in early March.
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On February 3, the 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico were given a 30-day pause, but by March 4, the tariffs were fully implemented.
Now, after imposing and pausing tariffs around the world, the U.S. has ratcheted up tariffs on Chinese goods to 145%.
“The tariffs are impacting me terribly,” said Matthew Williams, founder of Las Vegas-based indie board game company Envy Born Games, who was hit with an unexpected $1,486 tariff fee on a shipment of games from China in early March and now faces even higher rates. “My livelihood is at risk. Many in this industry will lose their businesses or won’t be able to pay themselves.”
“I didn't load up on anything. I wish I could have a time machine and go back and print some games that I'm getting low on stock, though, because I need to do that soon,” Williams said.
To offset the tariff costs, Williams, who runs his business alone, raised the price of his game slightly on Amazon – his primary sales platform – and has already noticed the games sold at a slower pace.
Now, Williams fears another Chinese shipment – expected to arrive at the end of this month – will erase his profits.