by Calculated Risk on 10/06/2020 08:41:00 AM

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 $67.1 billion in August, up $3.7 billion from $63.4 billion in July, revised.

August exports were $171.9 billion, $3.6 billion more than July exports. August imports were $239.0 billion, $7.4 billion more than July imports.
emphasis added

Click on graph for larger image.

Both exports and imports increased in August.

Exports are down 18% compared to August 2019; imports are down 8.5% compared to August 2019.

Both imports and exports decreased sharply due to COVID-19, and have now bounced back (imports more than exports),

The second graph shows the U.S. trade deficit, with and without petroleum.

The blue line is the total deficit, and the black line is the petroleum deficit, and the red line is the trade deficit ex-petroleum products.

Note that the U.S. exported a slight net positive petroleum products in recent months.

Oil imports averaged $41.69 per barrel in August, up from $40.60 per barrel in July, and down from $58.57 in August 2019.

The trade deficit with China decreased to $29.8 billion in August, from $31.7 billion in August 2019.