Permanent link for Big Changes Are Coming: Huge Drop in the Monthly U.S. Trade Deficit on June 15, 2022

by Natalie Bremmer 

Big news rocked the trading world recently with the announcement of the monthly goods and services trading deficit dropping a staggering 19.1% for the United States.

April 2022’s numbers were just released on June 7th, 2022 stating that the $107.7 billion trade deficit from March 2022 had dropped by $20.6 billion down to $87.1 billion in April 2022.

More specifically, U.S. April exports were $252.6 billion, roughly $8.5 billion more than March, and about a 3.5% increase between those two months. U.S. April imports were $339.7 billion, which is a $12.1 billion or 3.4% decrease from the previous month of March.

Year-To-Date

Though April was a great month, in the big picture the United States is still feeling the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Between April 2021 and April 2022, the goods and services deficit increased by 41.1% totaling $107.9 billion.  This is essentially due to exports increasing by 18.8%, coming in at $151.3 billion, and imports simultaneously increasing by 24.3%, totaling $259.2 billion within this timeframe.

Three Month Trends

On a more positive note, the U.S. three-month trade deficit average is starting to look a lot more promising. Between February 2022 and April 2022, the average goods and services deficit fell by $0.3 billion, down to a total of $94.3 billion. During this time period, U.S. exports increased by $8.3 billion for a total of $242.2 billion, and imports increased by a marginal $8.0 billion totaling $337.4 billion.

Monthly Export Trends

In April 2022, the U.S. export of goods increased by a substantial $6.1 billion to a total of $176.1 billion. The largest portions of this increase came from industrial supplies as well as food and animal feed, accounting for about $4.5 billion combined. Another large portion of the increase was due to the export of capital goods– namely civilian aircraft.

During the same month, the U.S. export of goods also increased by roughly $2.4 billion, totaling at $76.5 billion. The main categories that caused this increase were travel and transport which increased by $1.5 and $0.3 billion respectively.

Monthly Import Trends

In April 2022, U.S. imports of goods actually decreased in comparison to the prior month by $13.0 billion, with a sum of $283.8 billion for the month.

Some of the largest contributors to this decrease were consumer goods, industrial supplies, and capital goods which all decreased by $6.3, $5.4, and $2.6 billion respectively. However, U.S. imports of automotive vehicles rose by roughly $1.4 billion.

Alternatively, the import of services during the same month increased by $0.9 billion compared to the month prior, capping out at $55.9 billion. The largest contributors to this increase were travel, with a $0.6 billion dollar increase, and other business services at $0.2 billion.

For the full report, you can find the U.S. Census post here.

Keep up with VAGTC’s Trading Thoughts Blog for additional updates covering the trade deficit information released in July.

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Natalie Bremmer is a Student Assistant at   GVSU’s Van Andel Global Trade Center . She is a Junior currently pursuing undergraduate degrees in Finance and Human Resource Management at Grand Valley State University. She enjoys lifting weights, getting lost in a good video game, spending time with friends, and going on long hikes.

Categories: Export Import
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