U.S. goods and services deficit widens to $140.5 billion in March as imports jump

Investing.com - The U.S. goods and services deficit widened in March following an uptick in imports as businesses raced to lock in prices before the implementation of elevated tariffs.

Adjusted for seasonality but not price changes, the trade gap rose by 14.0% to $140.5 billion from a downwardly-revised $123.2 billion in February, according to data from the Commerce Department’s Bureau of Economic Analysis on Tuesday.

Economists had anticipated the deficit would come in at $136.80 billion, compared to an unrevised $122.70 billion in February.

An advance estimate of U.S. gross domestic product last week showed that the world’s largest economy contracted in the first quarter, dragged down in large part by a spike in imports. Prior to the announcement of U.S. President Donald Trump’s aggressive tariffs on friends and adversaries alike in early April, indicators have suggested that many companies moved to front-load purchases of goods from abroad.

Products arriving in the U.S. from overseas grew to $419 billion in March, an uptick of 4.4%. Imports of goods, in particular, rose $17.8 billion, driven by incoming items like pharmaceuticals, cars and auto parts, computer accessories, and industrial supplies. Exports, meanwhile, inched up slighly by 0.2% to $278.5 billion.

Although Trump has since delayed his tariffs on most countries for 90 days, universal 10% levies and duties on items like steel, aluminum and autos remain in effect. U.S. tariffs on China have also soared to at least 145%, sparking retaliatory tariffs of 125% from Beijing.

So far this year, the goods and services deficit has spiked by $189.6 billion, or 92.6%, compared to the same period in 2024, the Commerce Department said. Imports have jumped by 23.3% to $230.7 billion, while exports have ticked up by 5.2% to $41.1 billion.