The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell slightly to $73.3 billion in June as America imported fewer goods than it sold abroad.

Imports dropped 1.8% from the previous month, to $388 billion, though imports from Mexico, Vietnam and South Korea were at record levels.

U.S. exports also fell slightly from a busy month in May, according to data the Commerce Department released Tuesday. Exports dropped 0.9% in the month, to $314.7 billion, as petroleum exports fell back from a historical high the prior month. Both exports and imports of services hit record levels in June.

The combination decreased the monthly trade deficit, the gap between what the United States imports and what it exports. The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services fell 5.6% from the prior month.

The Trump administration has tried to narrow the trade deficit, which it sees as a sign of America’s manufacturing weakness, with steep tariffs on foreign goods. On July 24, it imposed a new round of duties on more than 80 countries, an effort to rebuild the tariffs that the Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional earlier this year.

On average, the monthly trade deficit in goods and services has been $69 billion in the 17 months since President Donald Trump returned to the White House. That’s down about 6% from the monthly average in the 17 months before his second term began.

Since Trump took office, imports of some goods have fallen, but demand has been strong for foreign chips needed to fill data centers, medicines and other goods. Imports, exports and the trade deficit have also fluctuated wildly as companies have tried to game the tariffs by stockpiling goods before their effective date.

The war in Iran has also affected trade, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz scrambled supply chains for oil fertilizer, product packaging and helium and boosted U.S. exports of petroleum.

“For the record, the trade deficit that President Trump vowed to extinguish was $79.8 billion in November 2024 when he was elected for another term, and is still $73.3 billion in today’s figures for June 2026,” said Christopher Rupkey, the chief economist at FWDBONDS LLC. Imports of goods from China had fallen from pre-Trump levels, but risen from Malaysia, Vietnam and Mexico, he said.

The World Trade Organization said last week that global trade had proved resilient in the first quarter of the year, as a surge in the trade of electronic components needed for artificial intelligence offset some of the drag of the war. The disruptions of the war were likely to weigh on growth more in the second quarter, it said.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Ana Swanson/The New York Times
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