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U.S. Goods Deficit Narrows to $101.5 Billion in June

The gap shrank because imports fell faster than exports, a pattern economists say will subtract about one percentage point from second‑quarter GDP.

Shipping containers on a container ship at the Port of Long Beach, California, U.S. July 17, 2026. REUTERS/Mario Anzuoni
Photo: APK / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0)
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Overview

  • The Census Bureau's advance goods report released Tuesday, July 28, showed the goods deficit at $101.5 billion with exports at $204.7 billion and imports at $306.2 billion.
  • Imports fell 2.6% while exports fell 1.8%, so the smaller deficit reflected weaker buying of foreign goods rather than a rebound in demand for U.S. shipments.
  • Exports hit a five‑month low as shipments of industrial supplies, including petroleum, dropped sharply, a move tied to lower crude prices and softer overseas demand.
  • Broad declines in consumer and capital goods imports point to cooling domestic demand and slower business investment, though heavy AI‑related hardware buying could reverse some capital goods weakness.
  • Earlier volatility in the quarter — including a large May spike in the deficit from front‑loading and restocking tied to tariff and supply‑shock concerns — means the June improvement is unlikely to prevent net trade from dragging on the BEA's advance Q2 GDP estimate.