Trade Deficit Stays High as Exports Grow Faster Than Imports

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services slipped 0.7 percent from August to September as exports grew faster than imports. Individual deficits with Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, and Italy, as well as imports from each of those countries, all hit record highs.

Imports of $426.6 billion were up 1.2 percent from August, reaching an all-time high. Imports of goods rose 1.3 percent to $346.9 billion, with increases of $7.6 billion for computers, $5.7 billion for computer accessories, and $2.9 billion for pharmaceutical preparations along with decreases of $2.7 billion for non-monetary gold and $1.2 billion for semiconductors. Services imports gained 1.0 percent $79.7 billion.

Exports were up 1.9 percent to $321.5 billion in September. Exports of goods rose 2.5 percent to $211.0 billion, with increases of $1.3 billion for soybeans, $1.3 billion for computers, and $800 million for computer accessories along with a $3.4 billion decrease in non-monetary gold. Services exports were up 0.6 percent to a record $110.5 billion.

The monthly U.S. trade deficit decreased from $105.7 billion in August to $105.0 billion in September. The deficit in goods trade lost 0.5 percent to $135.9 billion while the services trade surplus edged down to $30.9 billion.

Year-to-date, the trade deficit in September was down 12.2 percent from a year earlier as imports rose 6.2 percent and exports increased by 11.6 percent.

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