Posted by Nathan Book
Each month, the U.S. Census Bureau releases national data on a variety of key economic indicators. Among these figures are several pertaining to international trade, measuring the flow of goods and services across U.S. borders. These statistics provide insights into global demand for American products, the competitiveness of U.S. industries, and the balance between what the nation sells abroad and what it buys from other countries.
The following statistics were present in the most recent report, dated June 5, which shared data from April 2025:
U.S. exports totaled $289.4 billion, with $190.5 billion being comprised of exports of goods and the remaining $98.9 billion in services exports.
Exports of goods increased ($6.2 billion) from the previous month, fueled by a surge in exports of industrial supplies and materials.
Exports of services experienced also increased ($2.1 billion) from March to April. The primary contributor to this increase was a rise in the export of travel services.
Imports for the nation reached $351.0 billion. Among these imports were $277.9 billion in goods and $73.1 billion in services.
Imports of goods experienced a notable decrease ($68.9 million) from the previous month, with decreases evident in all categories. Representing the largest ever monthly drop, this is largely a result of a surge in imports in March to avoid tariffs, followed by a pullback in April and businesses and consumers adjusted to new tariff policies.
Imports of services also experienced a minimal increase ($0.5 billion) due to slightly higher imports of travel and other business services.
As such, the United States’ current international trade deficit in goods and services is $61.6 billion, down $76.7 billion from March. This massive decrease can be attributed to a significant decrease in the imports of goods, brought upon by new and anticipated tariff policies. As shown by the graph below, this represents the nation’s lowest trade deficit since September 2023.
With regard to trade with specific countries, the April statistics revealed a combination of surpluses and deficits, reflecting the varied nature of U.S. economic relationships around the world:
Notable trade surpluses were recorded with Hong Kong ($6.9 billion), Netherlands ($4.8 billion), United Kingdom ($4.3 billion), and Switzerland ($3.5 billion).
Deficits persisted with many key nations and regions, including China ($19.7 billion), the European Union ($17.9 billion), Vietnam ($14.5 billion), and Mexico ($13.5 billion).
All trade figures are adjusted to remove typical seasonal fluctuations and are reported using international accounting standards that track the full flow of goods and services between countries. The next iteration of data regarding these indicators, representing statistics from May, will be released on July 3. Monitoring these monthly statistics assists in the anticipation of market trends and prediction of performance in both domestic and global markets.
U.S. Census Bureau. International Trade. U.S. Department of Commerce. Accessed June 10, 2025. https://www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/ft900.pdf
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