U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to $105.6 Billion in August

The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services widened to $105.6 billion in August, up $12.7 billion from a revised $92.8 billion in July, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Imports grew much faster than exports.

The headline numbers

Measure	August	Change from July
Goods and services deficit	$105.6 billion	+$12.7 billion
Exports	$315.2 billion	+$4.5 billion
Imports	$420.8 billion	+$17.2 billion
Goods deficit	$136.6 billion	+$12.8 billion
Services surplus	$31.0 billion	less than +$0.1 billion

Source: U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. Figures are seasonally adjusted and not adjusted for inflation.

The deficit rose 13.7% in the month. Exports rose 1.4% and imports rose 4.3%, the agencies said.

July was revised wider. The government first reported July's deficit at $88.6 billion, according to BEA data published on FRED. Today's release raised July goods imports by $4.4 billion, lifting the July gap to $92.8 billion.

Is this the largest trade deficit this year?

Yes. At $105.6 billion, August's deficit is the widest since March 2025, when it reached $133.0 billion, based on the monthly history on FRED. A year earlier, in August 2025, the deficit was $59.6 billion.

The longer view is still smaller. For January through August, the deficit was $138.2 billion, or 19.9%, below the same period of 2025, the release said. Exports are up 11.8% year to date and imports 4.4%.

What drove the jump in imports

Goods imports rose $17.2 billion to $342.2 billion. Industrial supplies and materials accounted for $9.1 billion of the increase, including $3.3 billion more crude oil and $3.1 billion more nonmonetary gold. Capital goods imports rose $6.2 billion, led by a $2.4 billion rise in semiconductors.

Goods exports rose $4.4 billion to $205.7 billion. Industrial supplies gained $6.3 billion, while consumer goods fell $2.2 billion on a $2.4 billion drop in pharmaceutical preparations. Services trade barely moved: exports were $109.5 billion and imports $78.5 billion.

After adjusting for prices, the real goods deficit grew 8.2% to $114.7 billion in 2017 dollars, compared with an 11.1% rise in the nominal goods deficit on a Census basis.

Which countries had the largest deficits?

The largest goods deficits in August were with Mexico ($27.7 billion), Vietnam ($24.0 billion), Taiwan ($18.3 billion) and China ($16.4 billion). The deficit with Canada more than doubled, rising $4.1 billion to $7.1 billion as imports from Canada rose $4.6 billion.

Why it matters for rates and credit

Net exports are a component of gross domestic product, so a wider trade gap subtracts from growth as BEA calculates it. The three-month average deficit rose $9.9 billion to $89.9 billion, which shows the widening was not limited to one month.

The release comes as long-term borrowing costs sit near multi-decade highs. The 10-year Treasury yield closed at 5.31% on Oct. 5, according to Treasury data. Our report on the 10-year yield's highest close since 2002 and our September jobs data brief cover the rest of the recent data. More coverage is in the Capital Markets section.

The next trade report, for September, is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4.