The U.S. trade deficit widened by the most in eight years in April as imports of goods rebounded while exports of energy products declined, a trend that if sustained, could result in trade being a drag on economic growth in the second quarter.
The increase reported by the Commerce Department on Wednesday was the biggest since April 2015 and pushed the trade gap to the highest level in six months. It led economists to expect that trade could chop off as much as 2.5 percentage points from gross domestic product this quarter, unless imports reversed course, a tall order given the persistent strength in domestic demand. A strong dollar and slowing global demand could curb exports.
Those revisions showed the trade deficit was not as large as previously thought in the first quarter. As a result, economists expect the government to raise its GDP growth estimate for the January-March quarter to as high as a 2.3% annualized rate when it publishes its third estimate later this month.
Stocks on Wall Street were trading mostly lower. The dollar slipped against a basket of currencies. U.S. Treasury prices fell.Goods imports rose 2.0% to $263.2 billion in April, boosted by motor vehicles, parts and engines. There were also increases in imports of industrial supplies and materials, though petroleum imports fell to the lowest level since August 2021.
Exports are being crimped by slowing global demand. Though the dollar gave up some gains early in the year in the wake of 500 basis points worth of interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve since March 2022, the greenback has regained ground in recent weeks against the currencies of the United States' main trade partners. That trend could make U.S.-made goods less competitive on the global market in the months ahead.
April's drop in goods exports was led by a sharp decline in exports of industrial supplies and materials, mostly crude oil and fuel oil. Exports of industrial supplies and materials, which include petroleum, were the lowest since November 2021.
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