The monthly U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell sharply from its all-time high in April amid surging exports and falling imports.
According to statistics from the Department of Commerce, imports fell 3.4 percent from March to April, to $339.7 billion. Imports of goods declined 4.8 percent to $283.8 billion, including decreases of $5.6 billion in finished metal shapes, $1.9 billion in computers, and $1.3 billion in textile, apparel, and household goods. Imports of services gained 1.6 percent to $55.9 billion. For the year-to-date, total imports were up 24.3 percent from April 2021.
Exports saw a 3.5 percent increase to a record-high $252.6 billion. Exports of goods were up 3.6 percent, including increases of $2.1 billion in soybeans, $1.3 billion in civilian aircraft, and $0.9 billion in natural gas. Services exports also gained, up 3.2 percent to $76.5 billion. For the year-to-date, total exports were up 18.8 percent from a year earlier.
With exports up and imports down, the monthly U.S. trade deficit plummeted 19.1 percent in April to $87.1 billion. The deficit in goods trade fell 15.1 percent to $107.7 billion while the services trade surplus gained 7.8 percent to $20.7 billion. For the year-to-date, the overall trade deficit was up 41.1 percent from April 2021.
Country/region
|
Deficit
|
% Change
|
Surplus
|
% Change
|
China
|
$38.9 billion
|
-28.2
|
|
|
European Union
|
$17.0 billion
|
+9.0
|
|
|
Mexico
|
$11.5 billion
|
+8.5
|
|
|
Vietnam
|
$11.1 billion
|
n/a
|
|
|
Canada
|
$8.7 billion
|
-15.5
|
|
|
Ireland
|
$6.0 billion
|
n/a
|
|
|
Japan
|
$5.6 billion
|
-8.2
|
|
|
Germany
|
$5.2 billion
|
-16.1
|
|
|
Taiwan
|
$3.9 billion
|
-20.4
|
|
|
South Korea
|
$3.9 billion
|
+25.8
|
|
|
India
|
$3.8 billion
|
+18.8
|
|
|
Italy
|
$3.3 billion
|
-2.9
|
|
|
Malaysia
|
$3.1 billion
|
n/a
|
|
|
Switzerland
|
$2.9 billion
|
n/a
|
|
|
France
|
$1.7 billion
|
+112.5
|
|
|
Saudi Arabia
|
$0.9 billion
|
-10
|
|
|
Israel
|
$0.6 billion
|
n/a
|
|
|
South/Central America
|
|
|
$7.7 billion
|
+14.9
|
Netherlands
|
|
|
$3.0 billion
|
n/a
|
Brazil
|
|
|
$2.4 billion
|
+100.0
|
Hong Kong
|
|
|
$2.2 billion
|
+69.2
|
Australia
|
|
|
$1.4 billion
|
n/a
|
United Kingdom
|
|
|
$1.0 billion
|
+100.0
|
Belgium
|
|
|
$0.6 billion
|
n/a
|
Singapore
|
|
|
$0.6 billion
|
Shift from $0.1 billion deficit
|
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