The US trade deficit widened to $88.6 billion in July 2026, the largest gap since March 2025. This followed a $71.1 billion shortfall in June and came in slightly below market expectations of a $90 billion deficit.
Exports fell 2.1% to $310.7 billion, driven mainly by lower shipments of crude oil (down $4.5 billion) and nonmonetary gold (down $3.9 billion). These declines were partly offset by higher exports of capital goods (up $1.9 billion) and pharmaceutical preparations (up $1 billion).
Imports rose 2.8% to $399.3 billion, supported by increased purchases of computers (up $6.9 billion), computer accessories (up $6.6 billion) and semiconductors (up $1.2 billion). These gains were moderated by reduced imports of crude oil (down $1.8 billion) and lower payments for the use of intellectual property (down $0.5 billion).
The largest bilateral trade gaps were with Mexico ($27.5 billion), Vietnam ($23.3 billion) and Taiwan ($18 billion). The deficit with China stood at $15.2 billion. Meanwhile, the US balance with Switzerland swung from a $2.9 billion surplus to a $0.6 billion deficit.
