With the value of imports showing a substantial increase, the Commerce Department released a report on Wednesday showing the U.S. trade deficit widened to a new record in the month of March.
The report showed the trade deficit widened to $109.8 billion in March from a revised $89.8 billion in February. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to $107.0 billion from the $89.2 billion originally reported for the previous month.
The wider trade deficit came as the value of imports soared by 10.3 percent to $351.5 billion, while the value of exports jumped by 5.6 percent to $241.7 billion.
