US trade deficit narrows to $105.0 billion in September as exports outpace imports
The gap with Taiwan widened $3.6 billion and the one with the EU $3.2 billion, while the deficit with Canada shrank $2.7 billion.
By James Mitchell ·
Why it matters: The deficit is down 12.2% through September from a year earlier, but its three-month average rose $11.3 billion to $101.2 billion.
For information only, not investment advice.
Even with a $7.6 billion jump in computer imports, the US trade gap shrank in September. Exports rose $5.8 billion to $321.5 billion, a touch more than imports, which rose $5.2 billion to $426.6 billion, leaving the deficit at $105.0 billion, down from a revised $105.7 billion in August, the Bureau of Economic Analysis and the Census Bureau said Wednesday.
Computers were part of an $11.6 billion rise in capital goods imports. On the export side, soybeans rose $1.3 billion.
The goods deficit fell $0.7 billion to $135.9 billion. The services surplus slipped by less than $0.1 billion to $30.9 billion.
Among individual trading partners, the deficit with Taiwan widened $3.6 billion to $21.9 billion and the deficit with the European Union widened $3.2 billion to $14.2 billion. The deficit with Canada narrowed $2.7 billion to $4.4 billion. Mexico ($28.7 billion), Vietnam ($25.3 billion), Taiwan and China ($17.9 billion) had the largest goods deficits.
The longer view is mixed. The deficit for the first nine months is down $92.4 billion, or 12.2%, from the same period of 2025. But the three-month average rose $11.3 billion to $101.2 billion. BEA's next trade release is Dec. 8.
Sources
- U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, September 2026, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Tags: tariffs-trade · gdp