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The U.S. goods-and-services trade deficit is the amount by which imports exceed exports. In the latest figures available on October 7, 2026, the deficit was $105.6 billion in August, up from a revised $92.8 billion in July. That monthly figure covers goods and services—not just merchandise—and it is an accounting balance, not by itself a verdict on the economy.
What the U.S. trade deficit measures
The U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) measures trade in goods and services between U.S. residents and residents of other countries. Exports are sales to foreign residents; imports are purchases from them. The calculation is exports minus imports. When imports are greater than exports, the balance is negative and is called a deficit. BEA puts it simply: “The difference between the exports and imports is the trade balance.” (BEA: International Trade in Goods and Services.)
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The monthly headline refers to the combined balance for goods and services. Goods include physical products; services include cross-border activities such as travel, transport, and business services. A deficit in goods can therefore coexist with a surplus in services.
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By definition, the balance changes when exports or imports change. The monthly total can also move because goods and services change by different amounts, sometimes offsetting one another. Those are the immediate accounting reasons a reported deficit widens or narrows. They do not, on their own, establish why households, businesses, or trading partners changed their purchases.
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August 2026: imports rose more than exports
In the BEA and U.S. Census Bureau release issued October 6, 2026, the August goods-and-services deficit was $105.6 billion, compared with a revised $92.8 billion in July. Imports increased more than exports. The goods deficit widened by $12.8 billion to $136.6 billion, while the services surplus grew by less than $0.1 billion to $31.0 billion. The increase in the overall deficit was thus driven by the goods balance, with little offset from the services balance. (BEA’s latest trade release.)
2025: goods and services moved in opposite directions
For full-year 2025, the goods deficit increased by $25.5 billion to $1,240.9 billion, while the services surplus increased by $27.6 billion to $339.5 billion. Those opposing movements left the combined goods-and-services deficit at $901.5 billion, down $2.1 billion from $903.5 billion in 2024. The year’s total changed little even as exports rose $199.8 billion, or 6.2%, and imports rose $197.8 billion, or 4.8%. These figures, reported by BEA and the Census Bureau in 2026, show why looking only at one side of the balance—or at goods alone—can give an incomplete picture. (2025 annual trade release.)
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What category details can—and cannot—show
BEA’s 2025 annual release recorded a $165.9 billion increase in goods imports of capital goods, including a $101.4 billion increase in computers. It also reported growth in both services exports and services imports. These data describe the composition of the trade changes; they do not prove that any one product category or policy caused the overall deficit to move. Broader context can include changes in U.S. demand for foreign goods and services, foreign demand for U.S. output, prices, quantities, and the mix of transactions. A claim that one factor—such as tariffs, exchange rates, or a particular trading partner—caused an aggregate change needs evidence specific to that period.
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The current account is broader than the goods-and-services trade balance. It also includes primary income, such as investment income and employee compensation, and secondary income, such as current transfers. International financial flows are recorded separately in the broader international accounts. The terms “trade deficit” and “current-account deficit” are therefore not interchangeable. (BEA: What is the current account?)
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For 2025, BEA reported a current-account deficit of $1.12 trillion, equal to 3.6% of current-dollar GDP. The goods-and-services trade deficit for that year was $901.5 billion. The different totals reflect the different scope of the two measures, not conflicting estimates of the same thing. (BEA’s 2025 international transactions release.)
How to compare deficit figures fairly
Before comparing two numbers, check that they describe the same measure and basis. BEA’s monthly headline balances are seasonally adjusted and are not adjusted for price changes; estimates can be revised as more complete data become available. Use the latest revised comparison rather than an earlier unrevised figure.
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- Scope: Is the figure for goods only, goods and services, or the broader current account?
- Period and release vintage: Are both numbers for the same length of time, and are they the latest revised estimates?
- Seasonal adjustment: Are both figures seasonally adjusted or both unadjusted?
- Prices: Are the figures nominal, in current dollars, or real, with price changes removed?
- Coverage: Is the comparison national, or limited to a country, product, or service category?
That prices distinction matters. BEA and the Census Bureau reported that in 2025 the real goods deficit increased 5.7%, compared with a 2.1% increase in the nominal goods deficit. Those are goods-only measures, not the overall goods-and-services headline. A real series helps separate price changes from changes in quantities. (2025 annual trade release.)
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What the deficit alone does not tell you
The sign of the trade balance alone does not establish whether the economy is prosperous, competitive, or creating or losing jobs. The figures describe exports, imports, and their accounting difference; judging broader outcomes requires additional evidence. Likewise, a country-level goods balance is not the whole national goods-and-services balance and cannot, by itself, explain the U.S. aggregate.
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