Trade Deficit Slips as Imports and Exports See Further Increases

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell slightly from March to April as imports and exports both increased again.

Imports of $383.0 billion in April were up 2.0 percent from March, and the U.S. saw a record value of imports from South Korea and Thailand. Imports of goods climbed 2.1 percent to $304.9 billion, with increases of $2.2 billion for computers, $1.7 billion for semiconductors, and $1.6 billion for telecom equipment, along with a decrease of $900 million for industrial supplies and materials. Services imports gained 1.7 percent to $78.0 billion.

Exports were up 2.6 percent to a $327.1 billion in April, with record exports to Mexico, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Exports of goods also hit a record, growing 3.8 percent to $221.3 billion, with increases of $6.4 billion for crude oil, $2.5 billion for computers, and $1.7 billion for consumer goods along with decreases of $5.8 billion for non-monetary gold and $1.9 billion for other precious metals. Services exports slipped 0.4 percent to $105.8 billion.

The monthly U.S. trade deficit decreased from $56.6 billion in March to $55.9 billion in April. The deficit in goods trade was down 2.8 percent to $83.7 billion while the services trade surplus fell 5.8 percent to $27.8 billion.

Year-to-date, the trade deficit in April was down 49.1 percent from a year earlier as imports fell 5.5 percent and exports increased 11.3 percent.

For the month of April, trade deficits and surpluses with major trading partners were as follows.