Imports to US remained at near record levels in February as tariff fears persisted

Dian Zhang Paste BN

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 Paste BN 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 Paste BN 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, Paste BN 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:

The tariff of 10% on Chinese goods went into effect on February 4 and was doubled to 20% in early March.
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.

“It would be $11,600 to ship that, which is more than what I'm paying to have it actually manufactured,” he said. “I cannot pay it.” He plans to ask his Chinese manufacturer to store the games indefinitely.

All of Williams' board games are currently manufactured in China, but rising tariffs and trade uncertainty have pushed him to look for alternatives in Europe or Southeast Asia. The U.S., Williams said, isn’t viable – manufacturing costs are far higher, and the industry lacks the capability to produce the high-quality components modern board games require. “It was like in 2018 when I made my first game. In China, the cost was $6; in the U.S., it was $29. And I sell the game for $30,” he said.

“Tariffs of these levels would have been inconceivable,” said Noland, the economist at the Peterson Institute. “Even a few weeks ago, nobody was thinking about triple-digit tariffs going in both directions.”

Noland spoke last week at a conference hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas. As he talked about 125% tariffs on Chinese goods, an audience member stood up and said: “While you were speaking, they raised it to 145%.”

“I said, ‘are you kidding me?’,” said Noland. “I don't think anybody could have predicted what's happened over the last week or so.”

Ngosong Fonkem, a trade compliance lawyer in Milwaukee, helps businesses navigate customs laws and regulations. He said he’s been busy.

“I don’t know how many times I said ‘crazy,’ but everyone is in a panic,” he said.

Fonkem said most of his clients, who are “proactive,” listened to him and stocked up on imported goods. “The ones that were ‘let's just wait and see what happens,’ I guess they are feeling the pain right now.

“They should have taken my advice.”

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