US Trade Deficit Widens 19% to $71.5 Billion on Export Slump

The United States goods and services trade deficit widened 18.7% in May to $71.5 billion from a revised $60.3 billion in April, the Commerce Department and Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday. The gap exceeded the $71.0 billion shortfall expected by economists polled by Reuters.

Exports fell 4.0% to $279.0 billion, led by a $10 billion drop in industrial supplies such as non-monetary gold and natural gas, while capital-goods shipments declined on weaker demand for semiconductors and aircraft engines. Imports edged down 0.1% to $350.5 billion as lower consumer-goods purchases offset higher inflows of autos and pharmaceuticals. The goods deficit widened to $97.5 billion and the services surplus slipped to $26.0 billion.

Year-to-date, the overall U.S. trade gap is 50.4% larger than in the same period of 2024. Economists said President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs have distorted trade flows, prompting firms to front-load orders earlier in the year and leaving both imports and exports subdued in May.

In a separate release, Statistics Canada reported that the country’s merchandise trade deficit narrowed to C$5.9 billion in May from a record C$7.6 billion in April. Exports to the United States fell for a fourth straight month, but shipments to other destinations rose 5.7% to an all-time high, buoyed by stronger gold sales.