US EditionU.S. Trade Deficit Shrinks to 16-Year Low in October After Trump Tariffs
The trade gap shrank 39% to $29.4 billion as imports fell 3.2% and exports rose 2.6%, driven by tariffs and shifts in trade flows, Commerce Department data showed.
- U.S. Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau published January 8, 2026 data showing the United States economy trade deficit plunged 39% to $29.4 billion in October, the lowest since June 2009.
- Tariff moves by the Trump administration, including ending the de minimis rule on Aug. 29, prompted U.S. firms to stockpile imports earlier this year before reducing purchases.
- Monthly figures indicate imports fell while exports rose, as imports dropped 3.2% to $331.4 billion, exports rose 2.6% to $302 billion, and goods imports fell 4.5% to $255 billion with consumer goods down $14.0 billion.
- If maintained, the narrowed trade gap could add to fourth-quarter growth, and the Supreme Court will soon rule on tariff legality, which could affect many country-specific tariffs.
- Yale's Budget Lab finds the U.S. effective tariff rate topped 16%, the highest since the 1930s, and year-through-October comparison to 2024 shows the deficit up more than 7.7% amid large trade swings.
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83 Articles
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US Trade Deficit Shrinks to Lowest Since 2009
Is the US winning the trade war? On Thursday, the Commerce Department announced the US trade deficit fell to the lowest monthly level since 2009 in October. Economists expected a much wider deficit of $58 billion, compared with the reported $29.4 billion. Some see an encouraging sign of progress toward the White House’s goal of shrinking the trade gap, which President Trump has argued is the result of foreign countries taking advantage of Ameri…
US trade gap shrinks to lowest level since 2009
The US trade deficit dropped in October to its lowest level since 2009, new data showed, as imports fell six months after US President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.Trump made reducing the deficit central to his economic policy, and the US “appears to be winning the trade war,” one analyst said, as tariffs curb imports but other countries keep buying American goods.The drop in imports was largely fueled by pharmaceuticals — many drug c…
U.S. Trade Deficit Falls to Lowest Since 2009 as Trump Tariffs Rebalance Economy
You’ve seen the playbook a thousand times. The liberal establishment and its media lapdogs invent a crisis, push a narrative of fear, and tell everyone... The post U.S. Trade Deficit Falls to Lowest Since 2009 as Trump Tariffs Rebalance Economy appeared first on Patriot Journal.
U.S. Trade Deficit Shrinks in October After Tariff Changes
The Department of Commerce on Thursday released its latest monthly trade report, showing that the U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in October as exports rose and imports declined. The deficit fell to $29.4 billion, the lowest level since mid-2009, following the Trump administration’s implementation of a sweeping tariff regime in early April 2025. The October narrowing was also influenced by the large movement of gold, which economists said i…
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