Washington [US], September 4 : The US goods and services trade deficit surged 24.4 per cent to USD 88.6 billion in July, up USD 17.4 billion from a revised USD 71.2 billion in June, according to data released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the US Census Bureau.
The July increase came as US imports rose while exports declined during the month. Exports fell 2.1 per cent to USD 310.7 billion, while imports increased 2.8 per cent to USD 399.3 billion.
The data highlighted that the increase in the overall deficit was largely driven by a wider goods deficit. The goods deficit increased by USD 17.6 billion to USD 119.6 billion in July, while the services surplus rose by USD 0.2 billion to USD 31.0 billion.
“The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was USD 88.6 billion in July, up USD 17.4 billion from USD 71.2 billion in June”, it stated.
The US also recorded a USD 5 billion goods trade deficit with India in July, putting India among the countries with which the US had a goods deficit during the month.
The US recorded its largest goods trade deficit with Mexico at USD 27.5 billion in July, followed by Vietnam at USD 23.3 billion, Taiwan at USD 18.1 billion, China at USD 15.2 billion, South Korea at USD 10.4 billion and the European Union at USD 8.9 billion.
The US also recorded goods deficits of USD 5.6 billion with Germany, USD 5 billion with India, USD 4.8 billion with Malaysia, USD 4.2 billion with Japan and USD 3.2 billion with Canada.
On the broader trade movement, the increase in the US goods deficit reflected a USD 11.4 billion rise in goods imports to USD 320.6 billion, while goods exports declined by USD 6.2 billion to USD 201.0 billion.
Capital goods accounted for a significant part of the increase in goods imports, rising by USD 14.4 billion in July. Imports of computers increased by USD 6.9 billion, computer accessories by USD 6.6 billion and semiconductors by USD 1.2 billion.
On the exports side, industrial supplies and materials declined by USD 8.7 billion. Crude oil exports fell by USD 4.5 billion, while nonmonetary gold exports declined by USD 3.9 billion.
The services sector provided a relatively small offset to the widening goods deficit. Services exports declined by USD 0.4 billion to USD 109.7 billion, while services imports fell by USD 0.6 billion to USD 78.7 billion.
Despite the sharp monthly increase, the US goods and services trade deficit remained lower on a year-to-date basis. The deficit decreased by USD 188.4 billion, or 29.6 per cent, from the same period in 2025.