The U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly in April as President Donald Trump sharply escalated tariffs before pausing a large swath of the levies, U.S. Commerce Department data on Thursday showed.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in April, with imports decreasing by the most on record as the front-running of goods ahead of tariffs ebbed, which could provide a lift to economic growth this quarter.

Does the deficit crunch mean the US has won the first big battle of the trade war? Well, that's a complicated question