San Juan— Puerto Rico paid a record $919.7 million in tariffs in 2025 — the highest figure logged between 2010 and 2025 — while the purchasing power of the consumer dollar hit its lowest point on record in April 2026. Two datasets, two government sources, one unmistakable conclusion: the island’s households and businesses are absorbing pressure from both ends simultaneously.
$919 Million in Tariffs — Up 289% in One Year
According to a new analysis by the Puerto Rico Institute of Statistics, the island paid $919,734,046 in import tariffs during 2025, a year-over-year increase of $683,092,358 — or 288.66% — over the $236,641,688 recorded in 2024. Total imports for the year reached $19.1 billion.
The effective tariff rate jumped from 1.17% in 2024 to 4.81% in 2025.
The surge didn’t arrive all at once. April was the tipping point, with $79 million in tariffs and an effective rate of 3.59% — the month federal trade policy changes began to take full effect on inbound shipments. By November, the effective rate had climbed to 7.61%, the highest of the year, as $1.23 billion in imports generated $93.5 million in duties that month alone.
“In general terms, this analysis confirms that the greatest tariff burden falls on goods of high importance to the construction and manufacturing industries, with a prevalence of elevated effective tariff rates on finished metals and iron, steel, and aluminum derivatives,” said Ronald Hernández Maldonado, statistical projects manager at the Institute, in a written statement.
China Leads, at a 33% Effective Rate
The Institute’s breakdown by country of origin puts China at the top by a wide margin. Puerto Rico imported $828.6 million in goods from China in 2025, generating $275.2 million in tariffs at an effective rate of 33.22%. Japan ranked second at $114.5 million in duties, followed by Mexico, South Korea, the Dominican Republic, Spain, Brazil, Germany, France, and Vietnam.
The sectoral reach is broad. Beyond metals and manufacturing inputs, the Institute’s analysis flags food, household appliances, vehicles, tools, canned goods, and energy-related products as areas where tariff cost increases are working their way through supply chains to end consumers.
“Due to the cumulative effect along the supply chain, these increases can impact the daily life of the population — not only through food, but also through higher costs of housing, cars, appliances, tools, canned goods, electricity, and more,” Hernández Maldonado said.
Orville Disdier, executive director of the Institute of Statistics, said the findings underscore the need for sustained monitoring. “Equally, amid this volatility and cost pressures, there are potential areas of opportunity to strengthen Puerto Rico’s local productive base,” Disdier said, pointing to manufacturing reshoring as one avenue worth exploring.
The Other Side of the Squeeze: A Dollar Worth $0.70
The tariff report does not exist in a vacuum. Data from Puerto Rico’s Department of Labor and Human Resources (DTRH) — compiled through the island’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) — show that the purchasing power of the consumer dollar fell to $0.70 in April 2026, using December 2006 as the base year of $1.00. That is the lowest value ever recorded in the series.
The erosion has been gradual but relentless:
| Year | Purchasing Power of $1.00 |
| 2007 | $0.98 |
| 2019 | $0.84 |
| 2021 | $0.82 |
| 2022 | $0.77 |
| 2023 | $0.75 |
| 2024 | $0.73 |
| 2025 | $0.72 |
| April 2026 | $0.70 |
The overall CPI for Puerto Rico reached 143.2 in April 2026, meaning a basket of goods that cost $100 in December 2006 now costs $143. Medical care posted the steepest cumulative rise — a CPI of 168.3, reflecting a 68% price increase over two decades. Rent and shelter came in at 113.7, while transportation held near its 2006 baseline at 95.0.
A Double-Sided Pressure on an Import-Dependent Economy
Puerto Rico’s structural dependency on imports makes the intersection of record tariffs and record-low purchasing power especially acute. The island imports the vast majority of the goods it consumes — food, manufactured products, construction materials, energy inputs — leaving businesses and consumers with limited ability to substitute locally produced alternatives in the short term.
The effect works in both directions. For businesses in construction and manufacturing, higher tariffs on steel, aluminum, and capital goods translate directly into higher project costs, squeezed margins, and, ultimately, higher prices passed on to buyers. For households, the same inflationary dynamic compresses budgets that were already stretched after several years of above-average price growth.
A family that spent $400 a month on groceries in 2006 would need roughly $574 today to purchase an equivalent basket — a 43.5% increase in nominal terms, based on the April 2026 CPI. If wage growth has not kept pace — and for many Puerto Rican households, it has not — the gap comes out of savings, credit, or reduced consumption.
An Opening for Local Industry?
The Institute of Statistics frames the tariff environment not only as a risk but as a potential catalyst. Higher import costs raise the relative competitiveness of domestically produced goods and services, and the reshoring of manufacturing — driven by both federal industrial policy and rising cost-of-importation — could accelerate investment in Puerto Rico’s productive base.
“There are possible areas of opportunity for the strengthening of the local productive base” and for expanding Puerto Rico’s presence in the U.S. mainland market through manufacturing relocation strategies, the Institute’s report states.
That opportunity, however, is medium-to-long term. The adjustment burden in the near term falls squarely on consumers and importers — which, in Puerto Rico, is almost everyone.
What to Watch
With U.S. trade policy still in motion — subject to ongoing negotiations with major trading partners including China — the effective tariff rate for 2026 remains uncertain. A de-escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions could ease the burden on the island’s largest single source of tariff-generating imports, where the effective rate currently stands at 33.22%. A further escalation would compound a cost structure already under strain.
What is already clear, from both datasets, is that Puerto Rico’s consumers entered this period of trade volatility with their dollar already at its weakest in modern records. The Institute of Statistics will continue to monitor monthly tariff data; the DTRH updates the CPI and purchasing power index on a rolling basis.
The full tariff study is available at estadisticas.pr.gov/productos/aranceles-en-puerto-rico-2025.
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