Trade Deficit Widened by $19.5 Billion in December

Washington, DC, February 5, 2025-The goods and services deficit was $98.4 billion in December, up $19.5 billion from $78.9 billion in November, revised, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced.

December exports were $266.5 billion, $7.1 billion less than November exports. December imports were $364.9 billion, $12.4 billion more than November imports.

The December increase in the goods and services deficit reflected an increase in the goods deficit of $18.9 billion to $123.0 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $0.6 billion to $24.5 billion.

For 2024, the goods and services deficit increased $133.5 billion, or 17.0%, from 2023. Exports increased $119.8 billion or 3.9%. Imports increased $253.3 billion or 6.6%.

“The U.S. trade deficit grew again at the end of last year as exports slipped, widening a gap the new administration has vowed to address,” reports the Wall Street Journal.

“Imports increased 3.5% on the month in December, while exports fell 2.6%, taking the deficit to $98.4 billion, up 25% from $78.2 billion in November, Commerce Department data showed. Economists polled by The Wall Street Journal had expected a trade deficit of $96.8 billion in December.

“For the year as a whole, the deficit in trade with the rest of the world increased to $918.4 billion, from $784.9 billion a year earlier.

“In goods alone, the deficit is running at all-time high, and President Trump has made closing that gap central to policy in his second term. The president over the weekend set out steep duties on goods imported from neighboring Canada and Mexico, before agreeing to delay their implementation.

“Tariffs have meanwhile been slapped on Chinese goods, drawing retaliatory measures from Beijing. Trump has also threatened to impose heavy tariffs on goods from the European Union, with which the U.S. runs a similarly acute trade deficit.”