Deena Zaidi

Data and Financial Journalist

A line chart spanning January 2023 to April 2025 shows U.S. imports (dark line) and exports (teal line) on a monthly, seasonally adjusted (Census) basis, with the shaded area between them representing the trade deficit. Imports climb from roughly $330 billion in early 2023 to a peak near $430 billion in early 2025, then drop about 16 percent in April 2025 to around $350 billion; exports rise gradually from about $250 billion to $280 billion over the same period. A red vertical line at April 2025 highlights the point where the shaded deficit area narrows sharply—indicating a 56 percent reduction in the trade deficit that month.

U.S. Trade Deficit Drops 56% as April Imports Fall

Posted on Author Deena ZaidiPosted in World Economy, World trade

April’s U.S. trade deficit was $61.6 billion, down $76.7 billion from a revised $138.3 billion in March.

This reverses the large spike in imports that occurred before Trump’s April 2 “liberation day” announcement.

The April figures show surpluses with countries including Hong Kong, Netherlands, UK, Switzerland, Brazil and Australia. Deficits were recorded with leading partners including Canada, China, European Union, and Mexico .

Imports fell 16%  in April

The drop in imports was largely driven by goods than services. April imports were $351.0 billion, $68.4 billion less than March imports.

In April, the goods deficit fell $75.2 billion to $87.4 billion, and the services surplus rose $1.5 billion to $25.8 billion.

The fall in imports was led by consumer goods, pharmaceuticals, and  industrial supplies – all of which saw a decrease of more than $10 billion.

Others such as precious metals, automotive vehicles, passenger cars and trucks etc. saw a decrease in the range of $1 billion to 10 billion.