In March, the U.S. trade deficit widened to $69.4 billion, surpassing expectations due to declines in exports and imports.
In March, the United States trade deficit remained wider than expected, according to the latest government data. The gap between exports and imports was $69.4 billion, only marginally lower than February's revised figure of $69.5 billion, the Commerce Department reported on Thursday. This figure surpassed the anticipated $69.0 billion deficit projected.
Both exports and imports experienced a downturn in March, with exports dropping by $5.3 billion to $257.6 billion, and imports decreasing by $5.4 billion to $327.0 billion. The decline in exports was notably seen in capital goods, such as civilian aircraft, and industrial supplies and materials. Imports saw a reduction in passenger cars and other consumer goods.
Economist Rubeela Farooqi of High Frequency Economics highlighted that despite the global demand weakening, the U.S. has shown "ongoing resilient domestic demand," as evidenced by a significant rise in imports in the first quarter.
The minor contraction in the trade deficit from February to March was attributed to an increase in the services surplus, which mitigated a larger goods deficit. The goods trade deficit with China specifically increased by $2.2 billion, reaching $24.1 billion in March.
