US imports surged to a record high in December, official figures showed today as Donald Trump’s threat of tariffs triggered a rush among American companies to import goods.

The US trade deficit ballooned to a three-year high during the month, according to the Commerce Department, as imports surged by 3.5pc to an all-time peak of $364.9bn (£291.5bn).

Exports fell 2.6pc to $266.5bn, taking the deficit for the world’s largest economy to $98.4bn, up from $78.9bn in November.

The surge in imports came a month after Donald Trump won the US election with promises to impose universal global tariffs, targeting countries that had significant trade deficits with America.

Tariffs on China came into effect on Tuesday and the US president delayed imposing levies on Canada and Mexico until March in exchange for concessions.

He said the EU, which has a wide trade deficit with the US, would “definitely” face tariffs.

Thomas Ryan of Capital Economics said: “The strength of imports appears largely driven by businesses rushing orders ahead of potential tariffs, a trend unlikely to reverse any time soon given there is still the risk of 25pc tariffs on Mexico and Canada next month.

“Even though survey data point to an imminent rebound in exports, this suggests the trade deficit will remain wide this quarter.”

Carl Weinberg and Mary Chen of High Frequency Economics added: “The jump in import volumes may reflect companies efforts to accelerate imports to beat Trump import threats.”

They added this is hard to prove, given that strong exports also indicate “a fast-growing economy that is near its full potential level of output”.