Tariff Fear, Chaos Push O’Hare, JFK Trade Soaring 100%to Record Levels

Trade at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and New York’s JFK International Airport each increased more than 100% from the previous March, according to U.S. Census data I analyzed.

They are the first and only U.S. airports, seaports or border crossings to conduct more than $40 billion in two-way merchandise trade in a single month.

JFK has done it all three months this year, including a record $49.34 billion in January, while O’Hare did it in March, with a nation-leading $48.54 billion.

It’s all about the chaos and resultant fear caused by President Trump’s trade war with the world, an attempt to tame the United States’ $1 trillion deficit. Both airports’ massive growth surge was led by imports, not exports.

That chaos and fear that showed up in the U.S. bond market, leading to an abrupt 90-day pause in “Liberation Day” after its announcement on April 2. It has showed up in gyrations in stock markets both in the United States and around the world.

President Trump threatened but never actually imposed tariffs on Colombia little more than a week after taking office in January, imposed tariffs on steel and aluminum, imposed tariffs on car imports, threatened tariffs on USMCA partners Canada and Mexico over fentanyl and illegal immigration before pausing and adjusting them, imposed a wide variety of tariffs on all the world’s countries, engaged in a tit-for-tariffs slugfest with China, paused the announced “Retaliation Day” tariffs on the world, and paused China tariffs from embargo levels, the latest falling just outside his first 100 days.

Air cargo and airports are better equipped to handle the unprecedented swings in President Trump’s trade policy in the first 100 days of his second term, given the aviation supply chain’s ability to move generally high-value and light-weight freight more quickly than cargo over sea or land.

Perhaps surprisingly, neither airports’ surge has much to do with imports from China, given the attention lavished on the U.S. deficit with the manufacturing powerhouse by President Trump and most of his recent predecessors.

Nor do the surges have much to do with Canada and Mexico. Mexico, Canada and China – the three top-ranked U.S. trade partners – accounted for 41% of all U.S. trade in 2024. That percentage fell to just under 35% in March.

It’s largely Ireland for Chicago’s O’Hare, more specifically pharmaceuticals. It’s mainly Switzerland for JFK, more specifically gold.

For O’Hare it meant $17.31 billion in the category of insulin, hormones and steroids year-to-date, an increase of 1,795% from the previous first quarter. It meant a YTD increase of 79.21% in cell phones and related equipment. It meant an increase of pills and other medicines in individual doses of 104.48% to $10.2 billion, through March. (In 2024, 70% of the cell phones and related equipment came from China; in 2025, the percentage has dropped to 44%.)

For JFK, it meant an increase of 6,148% YTD to $67.37 billion in articles with precious metals, which in this case is largely gold.

An increase in both the trading and the price of gold – which has been treasured for millennia – is a long-standing reaction to instability and fear in the economy. Its surge in imports largely occurred in January – a reaction to the early talk of significant tariffs rather than the tariffs themselves. The value has topped $3,000 per ounce.

An increase in the vaccines, steroids, insulin, plasma and pills – conversely not something that has been around for millennia but that is the ultimate high-tech product – was in large part an attempt to beat coming tariffs.

Consequently, the two airports have ranked first and second nationally all three months this year – a first as near as I can tell, since the Port of Los Angeles and, more recently, Port Laredo in Texas have historically been nationwide leaders.

Port Laredo had been first among all ports 18 of the 21 months prior to January of 2025, when JFK gold imports surged. The Port of Los Angeles was ranked first the other three months over the last two years and most months for decades prior. The two powerhouses of U.S. trade find themselves ranked third and fourth, respectively.