U.S. trade deficit hit $105.6 billion in August, highest in more than a year

China News Service, Washington, October 6 (Reporter Sha Hanting) Data released by the U.S. Department of Commerce on the 6th local time showed that the U.S. trade deficit in goods and services rose to US$105.6 billion in August, the highest value since March 2025.

Data show that US imports in August were US$420.8 billion, a month-on-month increase of 4.3%; US exports in August were US$315.2 billion, a month-on-month increase of 1.4%. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services reached US$105.6 billion in August, a month-on-month increase of 13.7%, higher than market expectations. Among them, the merchandise trade deficit increased by US$12.8 billion to US$136.6 billion; the service trade surplus increased by US$100 million to US$31 billion. From January to August this year, the trade deficit decreased by 19.9% ​​compared with the same period last year, with exports increasing by 11.8% and imports increasing by 4.4%.

In that month, the U.S. merchandise trade deficits with Mexico, Vietnam, China, and the European Union were US$27.7 billion, US$24 billion, US$16.4 billion, and US$11 billion respectively.

US media analysis believes that the sharp increase in the US trade deficit in August was mainly driven by the increase in imports of goods in the field of artificial intelligence, including semiconductors, computers, computer accessories, etc. In addition, U.S. crude oil and non-monetary gold imports also increased significantly that month.

According to the gross domestic product (GDP) calculation method, imports will be deducted from GDP, so import growth is not conducive to GDP data. Experts believe that the increase in the deficit in August is not good news for the third quarter economic data of the United States. However, the current increase in imports is driven by goods in the field of artificial intelligence, which shows that the United States has "strong domestic demand, not economic weakness." (over)