U.S. trade deficit fell to $105.0 billion in September as exports and imports both rose, Census and BEA report

The U.S. goods and services deficit was $105.0 billion in September, down $0.7 billion, or 0.7%, from a revised $105.7 billion in August, the Census Bureau and the Bureau of Economic Analysis reported Wednesday, Nov. 4.¹ Exports rose $5.8 billion, or 1.9%, to $321.5 billion, and imports rose $5.2 billion, or 1.2%, to $426.6 billion. The figures are seasonally adjusted and are not adjusted for price changes. The agencies say statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable for those percentages.¹

The goods deficit fell $0.7 billion to $135.9 billion, and the services surplus fell by less than $0.1 billion to $30.9 billion, on a balance of payments basis.¹ In September 2025, the goods and services deficit was $59,392 million, according to the release's tables.²

Year to date

From January through September, the deficit was $662,252 million, compared with $754,638 million in the same months of 2025, a decrease of $92.4 billion, or 12.2%. Exports were $2,851,169 million, up $297.3 billion, or 11.6%. Imports were $3,513,421 million, up $204.9 billion, or 6.2%.¹²

The three-month average deficit rose $11.3 billion to $101.2 billion for the period ending in September.¹

What moved

• Goods exports, Census basis, up $5.0 billion: capital goods rose $3.8 billion and foods, feeds and beverages rose $1.9 billion, including soybeans, up $1.3 billion. Industrial supplies fell $1.0 billion, with nonmonetary gold down $3.4 billion.
• Goods imports, Census basis, up $8.0 billion: capital goods rose $11.6 billion, including computers, up $7.6 billion, and computer accessories, up $5.7 billion. Industrial supplies fell $3.7 billion, with nonmonetary gold down $2.7 billion.
• Services exports rose $0.7 billion to $110.5 billion. Services imports rose $0.8 billion to $79.7 billion.¹

On a Census basis, the goods deficit rose 2.2%. The release attributes the difference from the decrease on a balance of payments basis to an adjustment for nonmonetary gold imports.¹

August revision

August's deficit was revised to $105,737 million from the $105,572 million first published. August exports were revised to $315,666 million from $315,182 million, and imports to $421,403 million from $420,754 million.²

Goods balances by country

These figures are goods only, seasonally adjusted, on a Census basis. The release says they will not sum to the seasonally adjusted commodity-based totals because the two sets use different aggregations of the data and different seasonal adjustment models.¹ The September deficits it lists, in billions of dollars:¹

• Mexico, $28.7; Vietnam, $25.3; Taiwan, $21.9; China, $17.9; European Union, $14.2; South Korea, $12.2; Germany, $7.9; Italy, $6.3; Malaysia, $5.3; Japan, $4.8; India, $4.5; Canada, $4.4; Ireland, $3.0; Switzerland, $1.3; France, $1.3; Israel, $0.7.

The deficit with Taiwan rose $3.6 billion and the deficit with the European Union rose $3.2 billion, while the deficit with Canada fell $2.7 billion. The largest surpluses it lists are with the Netherlands, $7.7 billion; South and Central America, $6.2 billion; and the United Kingdom, $3.0 billion.¹

Next release

The October report is scheduled for Tuesday, Dec. 8.¹

What the records do not show

• The release does not give reasons for the changes it reports, and it does not attribute any of them to tariffs or other policy.¹
• Monthly country figures cover goods only. Goods and services by country are published quarterly.¹
• Reported import values generally exclude import duties, so the figures do not show duties paid.¹
• We read the release on BEA's site and Exhibit 1 in BEA's PDF of the full release. We did not read the later exhibits in that PDF, including the year-to-date country table in Exhibit 19, and we did not open BEA's spreadsheet or the Census Bureau's copies of the tables.²