United States Balance of Trade

Last Release

Feb 28, 2025

Actual

-122.66

Units In

USD Million

-131.38

Frequency

Monthly

Next Release

May 06, 2025

Time to Release

1 Months 0 Days 12 Hours

Highest	Lowest	Average	Date Range	Source
1,946 Jun 1975	-109,802 Mar 2022	-16,699.89 USD Million	1950-2025	U.S. Census Bureau

The United States has been running consistent trade deficits since 1976 due to high imports of oil and consumer products. In 2018, the biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Mexico, Germany, Japan, Ireland, Vietnam and Italy and the biggest trade surpluses with Hong Kong, Netherlands, Australia, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Brazil and Panama. China is the top trading partner, accounting for 16 percent of total trade, followed by Canada (15 percent) and Mexico (15 percent).

Latest Updates

The US trade deficit narrowed to $122.7 billion in February 2025 from a record high of $130.7 billion in January and compared to forecasts of a $123.5 billion shortfall. The goods deficit fell by $8.8 billion to $147 billion and the services surplus narrowed by $0.8 billion to $24.3 billion. Exports rose 2.9% to $278.5 billion, mostly due to nonmonetary gold, passenger cars, computer accessories, trucks, buses, and civilian aircraft. On the other hand, sales fell for fuel oil, transport, and government goods and services. Meanwhile, imports were little changed close to record levels at $401.1 billion, after surging last month driven by anticipation of upcoming tariffs. Imports fell for finished metal shapes, nonmonetary gold, and civilian aircraft, offsetting higher purchases for cell phones and other household goods, pharmaceutical preparations, and computers. The US trade gap narrowed with China, Switzerland and Canada but increased with the EU, Mexico and Vietnam