WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs took a toll on trade in August, as imports of goods and services dropped 5.1%, to $340.4 billion, after taxes on exports from roughly 90 countries went into effect Aug. 7, newly released data from the Commerce Department showed Wednesday.

The data, which incorporates less than a month of Trump's new tariffs, illustrates how the sharp increase in trade taxes has scrambled life for international business. U.S. firms clamped down on purchases of foreign machinery, industrial supplies, pharmaceutical ingredients and telecom equipment as tariffs went into effect in August, after months of stockpiling that had filled their storerooms and warehouses. Roughly half the drop in imports was because of a decline in purchases of gold, which inves

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