"President Trump hates the United States' trade deficit. Indeed, he is so concerned about the "economic and national security risks" the deficit creates that he imposed a tariff regime that raised geopolitical tensions across the globe.The only problem is that his tariffs don't appear to be rebalancing the huge volume of goods and services the U.S. imports, versus its declining exports."
"The goods and services deficit for the U.S. was $70.3 billion in December, up $17.3 billion from $53 billion in November, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA), released yesterday. This imbalance came on account of a 3.6% increase in imports, up to $357.6 billion-$12.3 billion more than November imports. The gap was widened because exports also fell: In December, they sat at $287.3 billion, $5 billion less than November exports."
"However, while the U.S. is still operating a monthly trade deficit of some $70 billion, the deficit on a year-to-year scale is improving, albeit slowly. For 2025, the goods and services deficit decreased $2.1 billion, or 0.2% compared to 2024. The data begs the question of how successful Trump 2.0 will ultimately be in addressing the nation's trade deficit with partners."
President Trump imposed tariffs citing economic and national security risks, but the tariff regime has not rebalanced U.S. trade flows. The goods and services deficit increased to $70.3 billion in December, up $17.3 billion from November, driven by a 3.6% rise in imports to $357.6 billion and a $5 billion decline in exports to $287.3 billion. The services surplus narrowed to $29 billion. Industrial supplies and materials exports fell by $8.7 billion while imports in that category rose $7 billion. Year-over-year the 2025 deficit decreased $2.1 billion, or 0.2%, versus 2024, but monthly trends worsened by December.
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