In March, the U.S. trade deficit saw a minor decrease, as disclosed in a report by the Commerce Department. The trade deficit fell to $69.4 billion from February's adjusted figure of $69.5 billion. Contrarily, economists had anticipated a slight increase in the trade deficit to $69.1 billion from its original February figure of $68.9 billion.
March witnessed a drop of 1.6% in the import value, which stood at $327.0 billion. This followed a substantial rise of 2.3% to $332.4 billion in February. Major contributors to this substantial decrease in import were a significant decline in automotive vehicles, parts, and engines.
Moreover, imports of industrial materials and supplies, along with cell phones and other residential goods, declined. On the other hand, an increase was recorded in pharmaceutical imports.
In line with the fall in import value, the export value in March also declined by 2.0% to $257.6 billion, following a 2.2% rise to $262.9 billion in February. In particular, there were reductions in exports of capital goods, industrial materials and supplies, and foods, feeds, and beverages.
Finally, the report included that the goods deficit rose to $92.5 billion in March from February's $91.7 billion. At the same time, there was an expansion in the services surplus, which increased to $23.1 billion from February's $22.2 billion.