The U.S. trade deficit narrowed to USD 49.3 billion in November of 2018 from an upwardly revised USD 55.7 billion in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a USD 54 billion gap. It is the lowest deficit in five months. The goods deficit decreased USD 6.7 billion to USD 71.6 billion. The services surplus decreased USD 0.3 billion to USD 22.3 billion. Balance of Trade in the United States averaged -14539.04 USD Million from 1950 until 2018, reaching an all time high of 1946 USD Million in June of 1975 and a record low of -67823 USD Million in August of 2006.

Balance of Trade in the United States is expected to be -52000.00 USD Million by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Balance of Trade in the United States to stand at -60000.00 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United States Balance of Trade is projected to trend around -53000.00 USD Million in 2020, according to our econometric models.

United States Balance of Trade
width
height
 Preview
Forecast Data Chart
Trading Economics members can view, download and compare data from nearly 200 countries, including more than 20 million economic indicators, exchange rates, government bond yields, stock indexes and commodity prices.

The Trading Economics Application Programming Interface (API) provides direct access to our data. It allows API clients to download millions of rows of historical data, to query our real-time economic calendar, subscribe to updates and receive quotes for currencies, commodities, stocks and bonds.

API Features Documentation Interested? Click here to contact us

Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2018-10-05 12:30 PM Balance of Trade $-53.2B $-50B $-53.5B $ -50.3B
2018-11-02 12:30 PM Balance of Trade $-54B $-53.3B $-53.6B $ -53B
2018-12-06 01:30 PM Balance of Trade $-55.5B $-54.6B $-54.9B $ -55.4B
2019-02-06 01:30 PM Balance of Trade $-49.3B $-55.7B $-54B $-53B
2019-03-06 01:30 PM Balance of Trade $-49.3B
2019-03-07 01:30 PM Balance of Trade
2019-04-03 12:30 PM Balance of Trade



US Trade Gap Lowest in 5 Months

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed to USD 49.3 billion in November of 2018 from an upwardly revised USD 55.7 billion in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a USD 54 billion gap. It is the lowest deficit in five months as imports plunged the most since March of 2016 from a record high value reached in the previous month.

Total exports edged down 0.6 percent month-over-month to USD 209.873 billion. Exports of goods decreased USD 1.2 billion to USD 140.3 billion, mainly due to falls in shipments of industrial supplies and materials (USD -1.4 billion), namely other petroleum products (USD -0.6 billion) and nonmonetary gold (USD -0.5 billion); consumer goods (USD -0.9 billion), namely gem diamonds (USD -0.5 billion) and pharmaceutical preparations (USD -0.4 billion). On the other hand, sales rose for capital goods (USD 1.4 billion), namely civilian aircraft (USD 1 billion). Exports of services decreased USD 0.1 billion to USD 69.5 billion as financial services went down USD 0.1 billion.

According to unadjusted data, exports fell to China (-5.1 percent), Canada (-4.7 percent), Mexico (-6.9 percent), the EU (-3.2 percent) and Brazil (-25.2 percent) but rose to Japan (4.2 percent) and OPEC (15.3 percent).

Total imports slumped 2.9 percent to USD 259.186 billion from a record high of USD 266.881 reached in October. Imports of goods decreased USD 7.9 billion to USD 211.9 billion, mainly due to consumer goods (USD -4.3 billion), namely cell phones and other household goods (USD -2.3 billion) and artwork, antiques, stamps, and other collectibles (USD -0.4 billion); industrial supplies and materials (USD -3.4 billion), namely other petroleum products (USD -1.4 billion), fuel oil (USD -0.8 billion) and crude oil (USD -0.7 billion). On the other hand, imports of services increased USD 0.2 billion to USD 47.3 billion: travel (for all purposes including education) went up USD 0.3 billion while insurance services decreased USD 0.1 billion.

According to unadjusted data, imports declined from all main partners: China (-10.9 percent), Canada (-9.1 percent), Mexico (-6.9 percent), the EU (-7.4 percent), Japan (-0.8 percent), Brazil (-24.8 percent) and OPEC (-12.1 percent). 

The goods deficit with China declined to USD 37.9 billion from a record high of USD 43.1 billion in October. The trade gap also narrowed with all remaining main partners: EU (USD 15.1 billion from USD 17.6 billion), Mexico (USD 6.7 billion from USD 7.2 billion), Japan (USD 5.8 billion from USD 6.2 billion), OPEC (USD 0.8 billion from USD 2.5 billion; data now excludes Qatar) and Canada (USD 0.7 billion from USD 2 billion).

Considering the first eleven months of 2018, the goods and services deficit increased USD 51.9 billion, or 10.4 percent, from the same period in 2017. Exports rose USD 157.1 billion or 7.3 percent. Imports went up USD 208.9 billion or 7.9 percent.


BEA | Joana Taborda | joana.taborda@tradingeconomics.com
2/6/2019 2:17:17 PM


News

US Trade Deficit Reaches 10-Year High
The U.S. trade deficit widened to USD 55.5 billion in October of 2018 from an upwardly revised USD 54.6 billion in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a USD 54.9 billion gap. It is the highest deficit since October of 2008 as lower soybean sales weighed down on exports and imports reached a new record high.
Published on 2018-12-06

US Trade Deficit Highest in 7 Months
The U.S. trade deficit widened to USD 54.0 billion in September 2018 from an upwardly revised USD 53.3 billion in the previous month and compared with market expectations of a USD 53.6 billion gap. It is the highest deficit in 7 months as imports rose to a record high.
Published on 2018-11-02

US Trade Deficit Jumps to 6 Month High
The U.S. trade deficit increased to a six-month high of USD35.2 billion in August as exports dropped further amid declining soybean shipments and imports hit a record high amid stronger demand for cars, industrial supplies and petroleum.
Published on 2018-10-05

US Trade Gap Rises The Most in 3 Years
The US trade deficit widened by 9.5 percent to USD 50.1 billion in July of 2018 from a downwardly revised USD 45.7 billion in the previous month and slightly below market expectations of USD 50.3 billion. It is the highest trade gap in five months as imports hit a new record high and exports of soybeans and civilian aircraft fell sharply.
Published on 2018-09-05



United States Trade Last Previous Highest Lowest Unit
Balance of Trade -49313.00 -55699.00 1946.00 -67823.00 USD Million [+]
Current Account -124817.00 -101224.00 9957.00 -215769.00 USD Million [+]
Current Account to GDP -2.40 -2.40 0.20 -6.00 percent [+]
Imports 259186.00 266881.00 266881.00 577.00 USD Million [+]
Exports 209873.00 211181.00 213593.00 772.00 USD Million [+]
External Debt 19556588.00 19306582.00 19556588.00 6570168.00 USD Million [+]
Terms of Trade 106.98 98.39 168.28 91.82 Index Points [+]
Capital Flows -33062.00 32140.00 272938.00 -193364.00 USD Million [+]
Foreign Direct Investment 51938.00 47253.00 51938.00 -9988.00 USD Million [+]
Net Long Term Tic Flows -48313.00 32032.00 157830.00 -72882.00 USD Million [+]
Gold Reserves 8133.50 8133.46 8149.05 8133.46 Tonnes [+]
Crude Oil Production 11900.00 11537.00 11900.00 3971.00 BBL/D/1K [+]
Terrorism Index 6.07 5.43 7.39 3.70 [+]
Tourism Revenues 21289.00 21367.00 21417.00 6496.00 USD Million [+]
Tourist Arrivals 6734056.00 6907642.00 8364941.00 2094287.00 [+]
Weapons Sales 12394.00 10304.00 16071.00 1769.00 USD Million [+]

Exports by Country  |   Exports by Category  |   Imports by Country  |   Imports by Category



United States Balance of Trade

The United States has been running consistent trade deficits since 1976 due to high imports of oil and consumer products. In 2017, the biggest trade deficits were recorded with China, Mexico, Japan, Germany, Vietnam, Ireland and Italy and the biggest trade surpluses with Hong Kong, Netherlands, United Arab Emirates, Belgium, Australia, Singapore and Brazil. Mexico is the United States' 2nd largest export market and the 3rd largest supplier of imports. This page provides the latest reported value for - United States Balance of Trade - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. United States Balance of Trade - actual data, historical chart and calendar of releases - was last updated on February of 2019.

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
-49313.00 -55699.00 1946.00 -67823.00 1950 - 2018 USD Million Monthly
SA




Country Last Previous
Argentina 1369.00 Dec/18
Australia 3681.00 Dec/18
Brazil 2190.00 Jan/19
Canada -2060.10 Nov/18
China 391.60 Jan/19
Euro Area 16990.70 Dec/18
France -4653.00 Dec/18
Germany 13900.00 Dec/18
India -14730.00 Jan/19
Indonesia -1159.50 Jan/19
Italy 3658.00 Dec/18
Japan -55.29 Dec/18
Mexico 1836.32 Dec/18
Netherlands 3572.00 Dec/18
Russia 18856.00 Dec/18
Saudi Arabia 184673.00 Sep/18
Singapore 2415.21 Jan/19
South Africa 17167.41 Dec/18
South Korea 1336.00 Jan/19
Spain -2568800.00 Nov/18
Switzerland 1787.14 Dec/18
Turkey -2674.41 Dec/18
United Kingdom -3229.00 Dec/18
United States -49313.00 Nov/18


Related
Latest