US Trade Deficit Shrinks By Most On Record In April As Imports Plunged

As the front-running of tariffs abruptly ended, so imports to the US collapsed in April - by the most on record -shrinking the trade deficit by the most on record...

Source: Bloomberg

The gap in goods and services tradeshrank 55.5% from the prior month, to $61.6 billion, the smallest since 2023 and more than completely reversing the sharp widening that occurred in the first quarter.

Imports of goods and services declined a record 16.3% in April, while exports increased 3%.

Source: Bloomberg

The April trade report showed imports of consumer goods slumped $33 billion, largely due to a sharp decline in inbound shipments of pharmaceutical preparations.

Imports from China plunged to their lowest since March 2020...

Source: Bloomberg

...shrinking the trade deficit with China to its smallest since March 2020...

Source: Bloomberg

Canadian exports plunged by the most in nearly 17 years outside of the pandemic, widening the countrys merchandise trade deficit to the largest on record. The deficit far exceeded even the most pessimistic projection in a Bloomberg survey of economists.

Source: Bloomberg

The sharp narrowing in April puts trade on track for a large contribution to US GDP in Q2 after being largely responsible for a 0.2% annualized decline in first-quarter GDP. We look forward to The Atlanta Fed 'adjusting' their GDPNOW model again...