US economy shrinks surprisingly in the first quarter

The US economy has lost a lot of driving and surprisingly shrunk in the first quarter of the year. The gross domestic product (GDP) fell by 0.3 percent in the first three months, as the Ministry of Commerce in Washington announced, according to an initial estimate. Experts had not expected such a significant development, but had only assumed a clear slowdown in growth.

US growth figures are counted towards the year, i.e. annualized. They are therefore not directly comparable to growth data from Europe, where it is dispensed with. In order to approximate the growth rate comparable to Europe, you would have to share the US rate by four.

Trump’s aggressive customs policy

The economic policy figures for the first few months in the term of office of US President Donald Trump were eagerly awaited, especially in view of the radical customs policy that Trump has been pursuing since he took office in January. The Republican has imposed special levies on imports from all over the world on a large scale in recent months. China is particularly affected.

Trump ensures numerous customs announcements, decreases and one overall erratic trade policy for weeks for great uncertainty. This at times resulted in violent market turbulence at the financial markets. The 78-year-old continuously promises that his customs policy makes the country rich, the US economy more successfully than ever.

Experts had not assumed that the US economy would shrink in the first quarter. It had been expected that the economic effects of aggressive customs policy would only be really noticeable in the coming weeks and months.

The US economy had already lost speed at the end of last year.