Financial News: U.S. Trade Deficit Widens Substantially As Imports Surge,

U.S. Trade Deficit Widens Substantially As Imports Surge, Exports Plunge

07/07/2026 - 11:34:00 (RTTNews)

(RTTNews) - A report released by the Commerce Department on Tuesday showed a substantial increase in the size of the U.S. trade deficit in the month of May.

The Commerce Department said the trade deficit widened to $77.6 billion in May from a revised $54.6 billion in April.

Economists had expected the trade deficit to surge to $78.7 billion from the $55.9 billion originally reported for the previous month.

The substantially wider trade deficit came amid a sharp increase in the value of imports and a steep drop in the value of exports.

The report said the value of imports shot up by 3.3 percent to $395.3 billion in May after jumping by 2 percent to $382.8 billion in April.

Imports of consumer goods, industrial supplies and materials and automotive vehicles, parts, and engines saw significant growth.

Meanwhile, the Commerce Department said the value of exports plunged by 3.2 percent to $317.7 billion in May after surging by 3 percent to $328.2 billion in April.

Exports of non-monetary gold fell sharply, while exports of computers and accessories, consumer goods and crude oil also saw notable declines.

"Beyond some idiosyncratic moves, exports in May suffered broad-based declines in inflation-adjusted terms, which we attribute to possible lagged impacts from the conflict and some normalization in oil exports," said Nationwide Financial Market Economist Oren Klachkin.

"Imports convey solid U.S. domestic demand, though inventory frontloading likely lent a hand. AI investment appears to remain on a very solid track," he added. "Notably, prices continued influencing moves in the nominal data."

The report also said the goods deficit surged to $106.5 billion in May from $82.9 billion in April, while the services surplus crept up to $28.9 billion in May from $28.3 billion in April.

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