U.S. efforts to reduce their reliance on foreign goods with the introduction of tariffs on imports, particularly from China, hasn’t reduced U.S. dependence on trade or improved the overall U.S. trade deficit.
The U.S.-China trade deficit narrowed when U.S. tariffs were implemented in 2018 and 2019, but it has been offset by larger trade deficits with other countries.
Some countries which began exporting more to the U.S. also saw higher imports and foreign direct investment from China.
This raises questions about whether the U.S. is ‘indirectly dependent’ on Chinese goods through “intermediary” countries.
The cost of higher import tariffs has largely been borne by U.S. consumers and producers as efforts to shore up the U.S. manufacturing sector via import tariffs have been ineffective.