by Calculated Risk on 5/05/2020 08:42:00 AM
Tuesday, May 05, 2020
Trade Deficit increased to $44.4 Billion in March
From the Department of Commerce reported:
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $44.4 billion in March, up $4.6 billion from $39.8 billion in February, revised.
March exports were $187.7 billion, $20.0 billion less than February exports. March imports were $232.2 billion, $15.4 billion less than February imports.
emphasis added
Both exports and imports decreased in March.
Exports are down 11% compared to March 2019; imports are down 12% compared to March 2019.
Both imports and exports have decreased sharply due to COVID-19.
The second graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum.
Note that the U.S. exported a slight net positive petroleum products in recent months.
Oil imports averaged $47.09 per barrel in March, down from $57.24 in February, and down from $60.17 in March 2019.
The trade deficit with China decreased to $11.8 billion in March, from $20.7 billion in March 2019.