Background

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell 23.8 percent in August as imports and exports continued to be affected by U.S. tariff and trade policies.

Imports of $340.4 billion in August were down 5.1 percent from July. Imports of goods fell 6.6 percent to $264.6 billion, with decreases of $9.3 billion for non-monetary gold, $1.6 billion for foods, feeds, and beverages, and $1.3 billion for computer accessories. Services imports gained 0.4 percent to $75.8 billion.

Exports saw a small increase to $280.8 billion in August. Exports of goods edged up 0.3 percent to $179.0 billion, with decreases of $1.2 million for pharmaceutical preparations and $1.1 billion for non-monetary gold and increases of $2.3 billion for computers and $0.8 billion for crude oil. Services exports gained 0.8 percent to $101.8 billion.

The monthly U.S. trade deficit decreased from $78.2 billion in July to $59.6 billion in August. The deficit in goods trade tumbled 17.5 percent to $85.6 billion while the services trade surplus rose 2.0 percent to $26.1 billion as both imports and exports of services hit record highs.

For the year to date the U.S. trade deficit was up 25.0 percent from the same period in 2024 as imports rose 9.2 percent and exports gained 5.1 percent.

For the month of August 2025, trade deficits and surpluses with major trading partners were as follows.

Country/region

Deficit

% Change

Surplus

% Change

Mexico

$16.3 billion

-1.8

 

 

China

$15.4 billion

+4.8

 

 

Vietnam

$14.4 billion

-10.6

 

 

Taiwan

$12.2 billion

-9.6

 

 

European Union

$8.1 billion

-5.8

 

 

Japan

$5.7 billion

+18.8

 

 

South Korea

$5.0 billion

0

 

 

India

$4.8 billion

-14.3

 

 

Germany

$4.6 billion

-14.3

 

 

Canada

$3.0 billion

-44.4

 

 

Ireland

$3.0 billion

+15.4

 

 

Malaysia

$1.8 billion

-33.3

 

 

Italy

$1.6 billion

-27.3

 

 

Israel

$0.4 billion

-42.9

 

 

France

$0.3 billion

-57.1

 

 

Switzerland

$0.1 billion

-98.7

 

 

Netherlands

 

 

$5.1 billion

+6.3

South/Central America

 

 

$4.9 billion

+6.5

Hong Kong

 

 

$1.7 billion

-10.5

Australia

 

 

$1.6 billion

Shift from $0.4 billion deficit

Brazil

 

 

$1.2 billion

+140

United Kingdom

 

 

$1.0 billion

-55.6

Singapore

 

 

$0.9 billion

+200

Belgium

 

 

$0.5 billion

-50

Saudi Arabia

 

 

$0.3 billion

0

 

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