Background

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose 4.9 percent from January to February as imports and exports both saw gains.

Imports of $372.1 billion in February were up 4.3 percent from January. Imports of goods climbed 5.0 percent to $291.5 billion, with increases of $5.4 billion for computers, $1.6 billion for trucks, buses, and special-purpose vehicles, and $1.5 billion for computer accessories. Services imports rose 1.6 percent to $80.6 billion, the second straight monthly record.

Exports jumped 4.2 percent to $314.8 billion in February. Exports of goods grew 5.9 percent to $206.9 billion, with increases of $8.0 billion for non-monetary gold and $1.3 billion for natural gas. Services exports rose 1.0 percent to $107.9 billion. All three categories of exports hit all-time highs.

The monthly U.S. trade deficit increased from $54.7 billion in January to $57.3 billion in February. The deficit in goods trade was up 3.0 percent to $84.6 billion while the services trade surplus slipped 0.7 percent to $27.3 billion.

Year-to-date, the trade deficit in February was down 54.8 percent from a year earlier as imports fell 9.2 percent and exports dropped 11.3 percent.

For the month of February, trade deficits and surpluses with major trading partners were as follows. Surpluses with Hong Kong, the Netherlands, and Singapore saw record highs, while the deficit with Germany was the lowest in more than 15 years and the deficit with Canada was the lowest since June 2020.

Country/region

Deficit

% Change

Surplus

% Change

Taiwan

$21.1 billion

+22.0

 

 

Mexico

$16.8 billion

+31.3

 

 

Vietnam

$16.5 billion

-13.2

 

 

China

$13.1 billion

+4.8

 

 

South Korea

$7.6 billion

+26.7

 

 

European Union

$5.1 billion

-16.4

 

 

Japan

$4.7 billion

-14.5

 

 

Malaysia

$4.0 billion

+25.0

 

 

India

$3.5 billion

+25.0

 

 

Germany

$3.3 billion

-32.7

 

 

Ireland

$2.8 billion

+16.7

 

 

France

$2.2 billion

+46.7

 

 

Italy

$1.8 billion

-45.5

 

 

Israel

$0.8 billion

+14.3

 

 

Canada

$0.7 billion

-74.1

 

 

Switzerland

 

 

$7.8 billion

+160.0

Netherlands

 

 

$6.8 billion

+6.3

Hong Kong

 

 

$6.6 billion

+120.0

United Kingdom

 

 

$5.6 billion

-20.0

South/Central America

 

 

$3.8 billion

-15.6

Singapore

 

 

$2.9 billion

+70.6

Brazil

 

 

$1.4 billion

-22.2

Australia

 

 

$0.9 billion

-47.1

Belgium

 

 

$0.8 billion

-11.1

Saudi Arabia

 

 

$0.2 billion

-90.9

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