U.S. trade deficit grew in March
- The U.S. trade deficit widened to $60.3 billion in March after imports rose faster than exports, even as both hit higher monthly totals. (bea.gov) - Exports climbed to a record $320.9 billion, but imports reached $381.2 billion; goods trade worsened while the services surplus improved. (bea.gov) - That matters because trade likely stayed a drag on growth, even with petroleum and soybean exports helping soften the blow. (money.usnews.com)
The trade deficit got bigger again in March. Not because exports fell — they actually rose to a record — but because imports rose even more. That is(bea.gov)ay, May 5: the U.S. goods-and-services deficit widened to $60.3 billion from a revised $57.8 billion in February. (bea.gov)n March? Exports rose 2.0% to $320.9 billion in March, up $6.2 billion from February. Imports rose 2.3% to $381.2 billion, up $(money.usnews.com)or 4.4%. (bea.gov) ### Why can exports rise and the deficit still get worse? Because the deficit is just the difference between imports and exports. If both sides go up, the gap still widens when imports accelerate faster. That is what happened here — a bigger inflow of foreign go(bea.gov) shipments improved. (bea.gov) ### Was this mostly a goods story? Yes. The goods deficit widened by $4.1 billion to $88.7 billion in March. Services helped a bit — the services surplus increased by $1.6 billion to $28.4 (bea.gov)about merchandise trade, not tourism, finance, or other services. (bea.gov) ### What pushed exports higher? Energy did a lot of the work. Goods exports rose $6.5 billion to $213.5 billion, with industrial supplies and materials up $5.0 billion. Within that, crude oil exports increased $2.8 bi(bea.gov)orts also increased by $0.9 billion. Consumer-goods exports, though, fell $1.7 billion. (bea.gov) ### What about services? Services exports slipped a little, down $0.3 billion to $107.4 billion. Travel fell by $1.1 billion, while transport and financial services ed(bea.gov)de picture. In March, that cushion was still there, but it was not the reason exports hit a record. Goods were. (bea.gov) ### Is this bad news for growth? Probably, at least at the margin. The advance goods report for March had already pointed to a wider goods gap and suggested trade would weigh on first-quarter G(bea.gov) the same — stronger imports tend to subtract from headline growth math unless inventories or domestic demand tell a different story. That last step is an inference from how GDP accounting works, not a separate line in the trade release. (money.usnews.com)ugh March, the overall deficit was down $211.2 billion — or 55.0% — from the same period in 2025, with exports up $100.2 billion and imports down $111.0 billion. The three-month average deficit also fell to $57.6 billion. So March was a step backward inside a much improved 2026 trend. (bea.gov) ### Bottom line? March was a reminder that a “better exports” story is not automatically a “smaller deficit” story. The U.S. sold a record amount abroad, led by petroleum, but bought even more — and that was enough to widen the gap anyway. (bea.gov)
