The U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate for the first quarter of this year was recorded at -0.5% (annualized compared to the previous quarter), the U.S. Department of Commerce announced on the 26th (local time). This figure is 0.3 percentage points lower than the preliminary figure (-0.2%) released a month ago. This marks the first instance of negative growth for the U.S. economy in three years.
In response, the U.S. Department of Commerce explained that corporations preemptively increased imports significantly ahead of President Trump's tariff policy, which affected the decline in growth rates. It also noted that the reduction in government expenditure negatively impacted the growth rate; however, this was partially offset by increases in fixed investment and consumer expenditure.