The US trade deficit in May widened to the most in more than a year, as exports of industrial supplies and consumer goods fell and imports rose.
The deficit in goods and services widened to a seasonally adjusted $77.6bn in May from $54.6bn in April, the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Tuesday. It was the widest deficit since it reached $133bn in March 2025.
The wider deficit suggests net trade will subtract about 2 percentage points from GDP growth in the second quarter, according to Oxford Economics, as imports subtract from GDP growth. But strong business investment and inventory accumulation should keep annual GDP growth above 2pc in the quarter, Oxford said.
The deficit in goods widened in May to $106.5bn, up from $83bn in April and the widest since $159bn in March 2025. The services surplus widened to $28.9bn.
US president Donald Trump in February imposed 10pc tariffs on goods from most trading partners using Section 122 duties that expire on 24 July after the Supreme Court struck down most of the tariffs he began declaring in April 2025. The Tax Foundation estimates tariffs will increase taxes on Americans by about $700/household in 2026.
US exports of goods fell to $210bn in May from $222bn the prior month, while goods imports rose to $317bn in May from $305bn in April. Services exports rose to $107bn while services imports edged up to $78bn.
Exports of industrial supplies — including energy, metals and fertilizer — fell to $83bn in May, with exports of nonmonetary gold more than halved to $5.7bn. Capital goods exports fell by $3.5bn to $66.9bn, while auto and parts exports were little changed at about $13bn. Consumer goods exports fell by $2bn to $20.7bn. Imports of food rose, as did imports of industrial supplies and capital goods except autos. Auto imports were at about $37bn. Consumer good imports rose to nearly $60bn.
Energy trade
US exports of energy-related petroleum products and crude were at $34.7bn in May compared with imports of $19.6bn, without seasonal adjustments.
Unadjusted exports of crude rose to 5.71mn b/d in May, up from 5.57mn b/d in April and 4.31mn b/d in February. Crude imports fell to 5.58mn b/d in May from 5.92mn b/d in April, but fell from 6.36mn b/d in February.
