Typescript: cannot use import statement outside of module

Question

my tsconfig:

{
  "compilerOptions": {
    "target": "es5",
    "module": "commonjs",
    "moduleResolution": "node",
    "sourceMap": true,
    "emitDecoratorMetadata": true,
    "experimentalDecorators": true,
    "removeComments": false,
    "noImplicitAny": false,
    "lib": [
      "es2015",
      "dom"
    ],
    "typeRoots": [
      "node_modules/@types"
    ]
  },
}

I cannot use import statements. I've read numerous articles and tutorials online and I can't remedy this error.