Southeast Asia Information Port (www.dnyxxg.com) – Data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on the 19th local time showed that the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services narrowed to $59.6 billion in August, a 23.8% decrease month-over-month.
The U.S. trade data for August was originally scheduled for release on October 7th, but was delayed by a month and a half due to the 43-day federal government shutdown.
The data showed that U.S. imports in August totaled $340.4 billion, a 5.1% decrease from July. U.S. exports in August totaled $280.8 billion, a 0.1% increase from July. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services in August was $59.6 billion, a significant decrease of 23.8% from July, exceeding market expectations. Specifically, the goods trade deficit decreased by $18.1 billion to $85.6 billion; the services trade surplus increased by $500 million to $26.1 billion. From January to August this year, the trade deficit increased by 25% compared to the same period last year, with exports increasing by 5.1% and imports increasing by 9.2%.
In August, the US trade deficits with Mexico, China, Vietnam, and the EU were $16.3 billion, $15.4 billion, $14.4 billion, and $8.1 billion, respectively.
US media believe that the Trump administration's tariff policies were the main reason for the decline in imports and the trade deficit in August. According to the GDP calculation method, imports are deducted from GDP, so a decrease in imports is beneficial to GDP data. Experts believe that the reduction in the August deficit is good news for the US third-quarter economic data, but the Trump administration's tariff policies are leading to rising prices and inflation, causing consumer anxiety. (End)
