WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump has urged Americans to be patient in the face of an unexpected first-quarter economic contraction, claiming his tariffs will eventually lead to a boom in the US economy.
The economy shrank in the first quarter, weighed down by a deluge of goods imported by businesses seeking to avoid higher costs, underscoring the disruptive nature of Trump’s chaotic tariff policy.
The gross domestic product of the world’s largest economy decreased at an annual rate of 0.3% in the quarter to March 31, after growing 2.4% in the final quarter of 2024, according to an estimate from the US Commerce Department.
Wednesday’s data was sharply below the market consensus estimate of 0.4% growth, according to Briefing.com.
“The downturn in real GDP in the first quarter reflected an upturn in imports, a deceleration in consumer spending, and a downturn in government spending,” the Commerce Department said in a statement.
Data showed that pre-tariff imports to the US surged 41.3% in the first three months of the year.
The US economy grew 2.8% last year, according to the Commerce Department, and most analysts had expected growth to cool slightly this year.
But since Trump’s return to office, and the introduction of new tariffs, many analysts have sharply cut their growth outlook.
Republican Trump blamed his Democratic predecessor, Joe Biden, for the poor first-quarter showing.
“This is Biden’s Stock Market, not Trump’s,” he wrote on his Truth Social account. “Our Country will boom, but we have to get rid of the Biden ‘Overhang’.
Trump added: “This will take a while, has NOTHING TO DO WITH TARIFFS, only that he left us with bad numbers, but when the boom begins, it will be like no other. BE PATIENT!!!”