The US trade deficit nearly doubled in November from the prior month, reflecting monthly volatility in reaction to US president Donald Trump's administration's on-again, off-again tariff policies.
The seasonally adjusted deficit in goods and services nearly doubled to $56.8bn in November from a revised $29.2bn in October, which was the narrowest since 2009, the US Commerce Department reported Thursday.
Trump has used tariffs as a cudgel to extract concessions from traditional allies and adversaries alike, both on the trade front as well as diplomatically. But generally, his initial volleys of tariff threats have been rolled back, or sharply reduced, with Trump declaring victory. While he argues that historical US trade deficits are proof the US is being "ripped off" and he aims to bring that to an end, in the first 11 months of last year the trade deficit widened from a year earlier.
In January-November, the deficit widened to $839bn from $806bn in the same period of 2024. The goods deficit widened to $1.15 trillion in the first 11 months of the year from $1.09 trillion a year earlier while the services surplus edged up to $309bn.
The widening deficit came even as the US dollar weakened by about 9pc against six peer currencies between 1 January and 30 November 2025, which would tend to make US goods cheaper for foreign buyers.
Goods and services
Exports of goods and services in November fell to $292bn, down by 3.6pc from October, and imports climbed by 5pc to $349bn.
The goods deficit in November widened on the month by $27.9bn to $86.9bn while the services surplus increased by $0.3bn to $30.1bn.
Exports of goods decreased on the month by $11.1bn to $185.6bn in November.
Exports of industrial supplies and materials fell by $6.1bn, with shipments of non-monetary gold down by $4.2bn and exports of crude down by $1.4 bn on the month. Exports of consumer goods fell by $3.1bn, with pharmaceutical preparations down by $2.9bn. Other goods exports fell by $1.3bn.
Imports of consumer goods rose by $9.2bn, with pharmaceutical preparations up by $6.7bn on the month. Capital goods imports rose by $7.4bn, with computers accounting for $6.6bn of the gain. Industrial supplies and materials imports fell by $2.4bn.
Exports of services in November increased from the previous month by $0.2bn to $106.4bn, while imports of services ticked down by $0.1bn to $76.3bn.
The deficit in energy products widened to $87bn in November from $59bn the prior month, with exports falling to $186bn from $197bn the prior month and imports rising to $273bn from $256bn. Petroleum exports were little changed at $21bn while petroleum imports ticked lower to $14.6bn.
Goods by country
The US deficit in goods with the EU widened to a seasonally adjusted $14.5bn in November from $6.3bn in October.
The goods deficit with Germany widened to $7.4bn while the deficit with France more than doubled to $3.6bn.
The US deficit in goods with Mexico narrowed to $17.8bn in November and the deficit with Canada widened to $3.5bn. Both are in the US-Mexico-Canada free trade agreement.
The deficit with China widened to $14.7bn in November from $13.7bn the prior month. Deficits with Japan and South Korea widened to $4.7bn and $3.7bn, respectively.
The deficits with Taiwan edged lower to $15.5bn while the deficit with Vietnam widened to $16.2bn. The deficit with India widened to $4.4bn from the prior month. The goods deficit with Malaysia widened to $3bn.
The goods surplus with Brazil narrowed to $2.1bn in November while the surplus with Hong Kong narrowed to $2.2bn. The surplus with the UK slid by about a third to $4.2bn, while the surplus with the Netherlands widened to $5.6bn and the surplus with Switzerland widened to $7.8bn.
