A government that wishes to raise prices has more than one tool at hand. It can pass a law that sets a minimum price, and sellers who charge less go to jail or pay a fine. Or it can tax imports, and the tax lifts the price of foreign goods, and domestic sellers raise their own prices to match. The first is called a price control. The second is called a tariff. They work through different mechanisms, but they arrive at the same place: buyers pay more than they would have paid.

Trump's First Year Back: The World Tilts Toward Beijing

The US trade deficit narrowed to $29.4 billion in October 2025—the smallest gap since mid-2009 and a thirty-nine percent narrowing from September 2025. Economists surveyed by Reuters expected approximately $59 billion.

The old bargain—American security in exchange for European alignment—had rested on a belief that the relationship was permanent. That belief ended.