Background

The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell slightly from March to April as imports and exports both increased again.

Imports of $383.0 billion in April were up 2.0 percent from March, and the U.S. saw a record value of imports from South Korea and Thailand. Imports of goods climbed 2.1 percent to $304.9 billion, with increases of $2.2 billion for computers, $1.7 billion for semiconductors, and $1.6 billion for telecom equipment, along with a decrease of $900 million for industrial supplies and materials. Services imports gained 1.7 percent to $78.0 billion.

Exports were up 2.6 percent to a $327.1 billion in April, with record exports to Mexico, the Netherlands, Japan, Singapore, India, Malaysia, and Vietnam. Exports of goods also hit a record, growing 3.8 percent to $221.3 billion, with increases of $6.4 billion for crude oil, $2.5 billion for computers, and $1.7 billion for consumer goods along with decreases of $5.8 billion for non-monetary gold and $1.9 billion for other precious metals. Services exports slipped 0.4 percent to $105.8 billion.

The monthly U.S. trade deficit decreased from $56.6 billion in March to $55.9 billion in April. The deficit in goods trade was down 2.8 percent to $83.7 billion while the services trade surplus fell 5.8 percent to $27.8 billion.

Year-to-date, the trade deficit in April was down 49.1 percent from a year earlier as imports fell 5.5 percent and exports increased 11.3 percent.

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

Country/region

Deficit

% Change

Surplus

% Change

Taiwan                            

$19.3 billion

-6.3

 

 

Vietnam

$19.3 billion

+0.5

 

 

Mexico

$14.8 billion

-9.8

 

 

China

$12.0 billion

-14.3

 

 

European Union

$7.2 billion

-21.7

 

 

Canada

$6.2 billion

+72.2

 

 

Germany

$5.6 billion

+12.0

 

 

South Korea

$4.7 billion

-2.1

 

 

Ireland

$2.9 billion

0

 

 

Japan

$2.8 billion

-31.7

 

 

Malaysia

$2.6 billion

-35.0

 

 

India

$2.4 billion

-36.8

 

 

France

$2.4 billion

n/a

 

 

Italy

$2.3 billion

0

 

 

Saudi Arabia

$0.1 billion

-85.7

 

 

Netherlands

 

 

$8.5 billion

+14.9

South/Central America

 

 

$7.8 billion

+56.0

Hong Kong

 

 

$6.1 billion

+5.2

Switzerland

 

 

$4.4 billion

+23.3

Singapore

 

 

$3.1 billion

+63.2

United Kingdom

 

 

$2.6 billion

-57.4

Brazil

 

 

$2.2 billion

+57.1

Australia

 

 

$2.1 billion

-4.5

Belgium

 

 

$1.4 billion

+133.3

Israel

 

 

$0.1 billion

Shift from $0.4 billion deficit

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