One big driver of those increases: data center construction.
Can you say unintended consequences?
Tariffs have come down, but they’re still higher than they were under the Biden administration.
This isn’t the effect that the administration hoped the import taxes would have.
Nate Axvig estimates his company has paid $27,000 in tariff fees, and has received just $3,000 back in refunds.
Stripping out the cost of imported energy, imports are about 4.5% more expensive than at the same time last year.
That's despite a raft of tariffs meant to bring the deficit down.
Economic uncertainty is causing companies to order and import goods earlier than usual.
The updated number could also show that the AI spending boom is accelerating.
Business owners are skeptical that tariff uncertainty is over, even as money is deposited into their bank accounts.
