(TNND) — Growth in the U.S. economy beat expectations in the second quarter, but evolving tariffs might be keeping the economic waters unsettled.

The Commerce Department reported Wednesday morning that second-quarter gross domestic product increased at an annual rate of 3%, better than the median forecast of 2.3%.

That’s a rebound from a 0.5% first-quarter drop, which had marked the first quarterly contraction since early 2022.

The GDP is the most general measure of the U.S. economy. And President Donald Trump celebrated the growth via social media as “WAY BETTER THAN EXPECTED!”

Trump also renewed his call for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates, which the Fed has resisted under the threat of a potential resurgence of inflation.

Colorado State University economist Stephan Weiler said via email that the 3% GDP growth is “superficially” great but built almost entirely on the reduction of imports thanks to tariffs and the threat of tariffs.

An increase in consumer spending also helped fuel the increase in GDP.

“Consumers – 70% of the economy – are still buying – possibly ahead of more expensive goods with tariffs,” Weiler said. “Christmas in July suggests that some folks are indeed moving spending forward.”

Bankrate Financial Analyst Stephen Kates, a certified financial planner, previously told The National News Desk that retailers tried to buffer themselves from the impact of tariffs by pulling forward imports as much as possible.

After the GDP release, Kates noted that the second-quarter GDP was most impacted by a drop in imports and investment.

“It's not all sunshine and roses, however,” Kates wrote in a LinkedIn post. “Looking at real final sales to domestic purchasers raises some concern. This marks the third quarter of decline and the lowest reading since Q4 2022 when inflation was still strong-arming consumers.”

Kates said real final sales to domestic purchasers is the sum of consumer spending and gross private fixed investment. It’s a measure that strips out the effects of imports, inventory investment, and government purchases, which can all be volatile, he said.

And it only looks at spending by U.S. households and firms on domestic production.

Labor economist Aaron Sojourner also gave a nod to the tariff impact in a Bluesky post.

Sojourner noted that despite the 3% second-quarter growth, GDP grew just 1.3% in the first half of 2025.

Import spikes distorted the first quarter, and the drop in imports distorted the second quarter, he said.

But averages and core measures showed growth slowed in the first half of the year, Sojourner said.

Kates also noted that Wednesday’s GDP release was only a preliminary reading that can move around over the next two revision periods.

Still, it shows the resilience of the U.S. economy, he said.

“This is good news, and another feather in the cap of an economy that won't quit,” Kates said.