The north -American economy is hired with 0.3%as Trump rates cause an increase in import

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The North -American economy was hired by 0.3 percent annualized during the first quarter, as companies in the world’s largest economy responded to the Donald Trump trade war through imports.

The GDP slide of the period was worse than the most recent forecasts of economists and was compared to the 2.4 percent rate registered for the fourth quarter.

The fall was largely the result of the rush of North -American companies to accumulate inventory before Trump’s sweeping ratesWith data from the United States Census Office on Tuesday, they show the commercial deficit of the goods that reached a maximum record in March.

The difference between imports and exports is an important factor in the calculation of GDP, which also measures internal consumption, investment and government spending.

Futures of actions fell and the yields of bonds slightly increased after data. The performance of the two -year treasure, which moves with interest rate expectations, increased by 0.01 percentage points to 3.66 percent.

There was no significant change in the expectations of interest rate reduction after data, with traders in the market for future, who still had a price of about four cuts this year.

Several Wall Street economists reviewed their estimates for the first quarter growth after the publication of Tuesday’s commercial numbers.

The Office of Economic Analysis, which produced Wednesday GDP figures, added that the fall in the first quarter production also reflected a decrease in government spending.

He said that these changes were partially, but not completely, compensated by the increase in investment, consumer spending and exports.

The Trump trade war is expected to lead to slower growth during the second half of this year, with higher prices weighing consumption.

The IMF said last week that the North -American GDP would expand 1.8 percent this year, from its January 2.7 percent estimate. Many private sector forecasts do not foresee any growth.

This is a development story