The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services soared 42.2 percent from April to May as imports climbed while exports fell. Deficits with Malaysia, Mexico, and Vietnam hit records as imports from those countries grew to all-time highs, while the deficit with Japan dropped to a record low amid unprecedented exports to that country.
Imports of $395.3 billion in May were up 3.3 percent from April. Imports of goods jumped 4.0 percent to $317.0 billion, with increases of $1.9 billion for pharmaceutical preparations, $1.5 billion for crude oil, and $1.0 billion each for household goods and passenger cars, along with a decrease of $3.4 billion for computers. Services imports edged up 0.3 percent to $78.2 billion.
Exports were down 3.2 percent to $317.7 billion in May. Exports of goods tumbled 5.1 percent to $210.6 billion, with decreases of $6.2 billion for non-monetary gold, $2.1 billion for computers, and $2.0 billion each for computer accessories and crude oil. Services exports moved up 0.8 percent to $107.1 billion.
The monthly U.S. trade deficit increased from $54.6 billion in April to $77.6 billion in May. The deficit in goods trade was up 28.5 percent to $106.5 billion while the services trade surplus gained 2.1 percent to $28.9 billion.
Year-to-date, the trade deficit in May was down 40.6 percent from a year earlier as imports fell 2.1 percent and exports increased 11.7 percent.
For the month of May, trade deficits and surpluses with major trading partners were as follows.
|
Country/region
|
Deficit
|
% Change
|
Surplus
|
% Change
|
|
Vietnam
|
$20.6 billion
|
+6.7
|
|
|
|
Mexico
|
$20.1 billion
|
+35.8
|
|
|
|
Taiwan
|
$19.4 billion
|
+0.5
|
|
|
|
China
|
$14.5 billion
|
+20.8
|
|
|
|
European Union
|
$9.3 billion
|
+29.2
|
|
|
|
Canada
|
$7.0 billion
|
+12.9
|
|
|
|
Germany
|
$5.7 billion
|
+1.8
|
|
|
|
Malaysia
|
$4.7 billion
|
+80.8
|
|
|
|
South Korea
|
$4.4 billion
|
-6.4
|
|
|
|
India
|
$4.1 billion
|
+70.8
|
|
|
|
Ireland
|
$4.0 billion
|
+37.9
|
|
|
|
Italy
|
$2.9 billion
|
+26.1
|
|
|
|
Switzerland
|
$2.3 billion
|
Shift from $4.4 billion surplus
|
|
|
|
Japan
|
$2.0 billion
|
-28.6
|
|
|
|
France
|
$1.5 billion
|
-37.5
|
|
|
|
Israel
|
$0.4 billion
|
Shift from $0.1 billion surplus
|
|
|
|
Netherlands
|
|
|
$9.1 billion
|
+7.1
|
|
Hong Kong
|
|
|
$5.6 billion
|
-8.2
|
|
South/Central America
|
|
|
$4.8 billion
|
-38.5
|
|
Australia
|
|
|
$1.9 billion
|
-9.5
|
|
United Kingdom
|
|
|
$1.4 billion
|
-46.2
|
|
Brazil
|
|
|
$1.1 billion
|
-50.0
|
|
Singapore
|
|
|
$0.9 billion
|
-71.0
|
|
Belgium
|
|
|
$0.7 billion
|
-50.0
|
|
Saudi Arabia
|
|
|
$0.3 billion
|
Shift from $0.1 billion deficit
|
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