U.S. Trade Deficit Hits Lowest Point in Nearly Two Years This June

U.S. trade deficit plummets as imports fall. The U.S. trade gap with both China and the rest of the world narrowed in June to its lowest level in years, according to the U.S. Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis (Bea).

Thus, the overall trade deficit, which includes services, fell by 16% in June, reaching $60.2 billion. The goods deficit, meanwhile, fell by 10.8%, also reaching its lowest level since September 2023, almost two years.

Exports of goods and services totaled $277.3 billion, down from more than $278 billion in May. Meanwhile, total imports amounted to $337.5 billion, down from $350.3 billion in the previous month.

Total imports to the US in June amounted to 337.5 billion dollars, down 12.8 billion dollars

The decline in the trade deficit contributed to the rebound in U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the second quarter and served as a balance to the first quarter, when imports soared as businesses and consumers brought forward their purchases to avoid President Donald Trump’s tariffs as much as possible.

Separately, the government office highlighted the drop in the U.S. trade deficit with China, which fell by about a third to $9.5 billion in June, its lowest level since February 2004. The figure has now been down for five consecutive months, with a cumulative $22.2 billion (and a 70% reduction).

The tariff rates that will come into effect on August 7th on imports to the United States range from 10% to 41%. In this regard, according to the latest estimates, the average overall US tariff rate has soared to 18.3%, the highest since 1934.