Though shocking, the economic damage caused by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs is now being compared to the devastation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The state of the US economy has reached a critical point, eerily reminiscent of the pandemic era. This is a dramatic turn indeed.
According to estimates from the Institute for Supply Management, the tariffs imposed by Trump have pushed the US economy to a state nearly as severe as that experienced in 2020, at the height of the coronavirus crisis. ISM analysts noted a sharp decline in the export orders index, which fell for a third straight month in May 2025. The index is now at its lowest level since the pandemic. Such dismal figures were last recorded during the global financial crisis of 2008-2009. This decline is also the steepest since the COVID-19 pandemic.
In addition, the Purchasing Managers' Index, which measures the health of the US manufacturing sector, has plummeted to 48.5. For comparison, it was 41.5 in April 2020, during the early days of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Some analysts have previously warned that Trump's tariff policy could cause the United States to fall behind other global economies.
