The US trade deficit widened by 4.9pc in February as imports, including capital goods linked to the buildout of artificial intelligence (AI), grew faster than exports.
The US trade deficit in goods and services rose to a seasonally adjusted $57.3bn in February from $54.7bn in January, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reported Thursday.
The deficit in goods rose to $84.6bn in February from $82.1bn in January, while the services surplus fell by $0.2bn to $27.3bn.
Total US exports in February rose by 4.2pc to $314.8bn while imports rose by 4.3pc to $372.1bn.
Exports of goods rose by $11.5bn to $206.9bn in February, led by shipments of non-monetary gold and industrial supplies including natural gas.
Imports of goods rose by $14bn to $291.5bn in February, with capital goods imports up by $7.8bn and crude oil imports up by $1.1bn.
"February's jump in imports was relatively broad-based, although imports of computer equipment and semiconductors leapt again, due to the ongoing surge in AI-related capex," Pantheon Macroeconomics said in a note.
Exports of services increased by $1.2bn to $106.7bn, and services imports rose by $23bn to $79.3bn.
Yearly trade gap shrinkage
Still, the deficit in February shrank by more than half from $120bn a year earlier. But that could change with the Mideast Gulf war and the US high court's striking down President Donald Trump's tariffs.
"The shake-up in tariff policy following the Supreme Court decision in late February, and disruptions to global supply chains due to the US-Iran war, could trigger more turbulence in the trade data," Oxford Economics' US economist Grace Zwemmer said in a note.
The dollar index has climbed from 99.3 on 27 February, the day before the US-Israel war on Iran began, to 99.9 on Thursday, although it is down from 103.7 in early April last year. A stronger dollar makes US imports cheaper, while making exports less competitive.
The US trade deficit edged higher to $911bn last year from $904bn in 2024, with the goods deficit rising to $1.24 trillion in 2025 from $1.215 trillion the prior year.
Petroleum trade slows
US exports of crude and petroleum products, including natural gas liquids, fuel oil and others on an end-use basis, totaled $20.6bn in February, little changed on the month, with imports at $16.8bn in February, up from 15.5bn in January, the report said.
Exports of crude averaged 4.3mn b/d in February, up from 3.9mn b/d in January, with imports at 6.35mn b/d in February from 6.1mn b/d in January.
Partners
The US had a $16.5bn seasonally adjusted deficit with Vietnam in February, a $16.8bn shortfall with Mexico and a $13.1bn deficit with China.
The US ran a $5.1bn deficit with the EU and a $7.6bn deficit with South Korea, a $4.7bn deficit with Japan and a $3.2bn shortfall with Germany. The US deficit with Canada narrowed to $741mn in February from January.
The US had a $5.6bn surplus with the UK, a $6.8bn surplus with the Netherlands and a $3.8bn surplus with central and south America that included a $1.5bn surplus with Brazil in February.
