US purchases from major trade partners such as Canada and China fell to their lowest levels since 2021 and 2020 respectively, the Commerce Department said.

The collapse helped to cut the US trade deficit - the gap between exports and imports - in goods by almost half, a record decline, according to the report.

“The April trade report indicates the impact from tariffs has well and truly arrived,” said Oxford Economics, while noting that the latest figures should be interpreted with caution, given the surge in activity earlier this year.