Background

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell an unprecedented 55.5 percent in April from an all-time high in March as imports tumbled amid U.S. tariff increases. Individual deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan, and Thailand hit record highs, but so did surpluses with Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Switzerland.

Imports fell a record 16.3 percent from March to April to $351.0 billion. Imports of goods were down 19.9 percent to $277.9 billion, with decreases of $26.0 billion for pharmaceutical preparations, $16.9 billion for finished metal shapes, and $6.4 billion for passenger cars. Services imports edged up 0.7 percent to $73.1 billion.

Exports rose 3.0 percent in April to a record $289.4 billion. Exports of goods were up 3.4 percent to an all-time high of $190.5 billion, with increases of $8.1 billion for finished metal shapes, $4.2 billion for non-monetary gold, and $1.0 billion for computers along with decreases of $1.7 billion for passenger cars and $1.1 billion for crude oil. Services exports were up 2.2 percent to $98.9 billion.

The monthly U.S. trade deficit fell from $138.3 billion in March to $61.6 billion in April. The deficit in goods trade plummeted 44.9 percent to $87.4 billion while the services trade surplus gained 6.2 percent to $25.8 billion.

However, for the year to date the U.S. trade deficit was up 65.7 percent from the same period in 2024 as imports rose 17.8 percent and exports gained 5.5 percent.

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

Country/region

Deficit

% Change

Surplus

% Change

China

$19.7 billion

-20.6

 

 

European Union

$17.9 billion

-62.9

 

 

Vietnam

$14.5 billion

+2.8

 

 

Mexico

$13.5 billion

-19.6

 

 

Taiwan

$9.7 billion

+11.5

 

 

Ireland

$9.5 billion

-67.6

 

 

Japan

$5.8 billion

0

 

 

Germany

$5.4 billion

-28.0

 

 

India

$5.3 billion

-31.2

 

 

South Korea

$3.3 billion

-51.5

 

 

Italy

$3.2 billion

-27.3

 

 

Canada

$2.6 billion

-46.9

 

 

Malaysia

$2.3 billion

-28.1

 

 

France

$1.9 billion

-51.3

 

 

Israel

$0.9 billion

-10.0

 

 

Hong Kong

 

 

$6.9 billion

+263.2

Netherlands

 

 

$4.8 billion

+6.7

United Kingdom

 

 

$4.3 billion

+258.3

Switzerland

 

 

$3.5 billion

Shift from $14.7 billion deficit

South/Central America

 

 

$3.3 billion

-8.3

Australia

 

 

$1.4 billion

Shift from $1.0 billion deficit

Brazil

 

 

$1.0 billion

+100.0

Singapore

 

 

$0.9 billion

+180.0

Saudi Arabia

 

 

$0.9 billion

+350.0

Belgium

 

 

$0.9 billion

Shift from $0.1 billion deficit

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