Updated: 07-Jun-22 09:24 ET
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Updated: 07-Jun-22 09:24 ET |
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Highlights
- The April trade deficit narrowed nicely to $87.1 billion (Briefing.com consensus -$89.6 billion) from an upwardly revised $107.7 billion (from -$109.8 billion), but it wasn't for the best of reasons.
Key Factors
- Exports were $252.6 billion, $8.5 billion more than March exports. April imports were $339.7 billion, $12.1 billion less than March imports.
- Exports of industrial supplies and materials increased by $2.3 billion.
- Exports of foods, feeds, and beverages increased by $2.2 billion.
- Exports of capital goods increased by $1.2 billion.
- Imports of consumer goods decreased by $6.3 billion.
- Imports of industrial supplies and materials decreased by $5.3 billion.
- Imports of capital goods decreased by $2.6 billion.
- The real goods trade deficit narrowed to $100.98 billion versus the Q1 average of $101.8 billion.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that imports dropped by $12.1 billion from March largely on account of supply chain bottlenecks driven by COVID-related lockdowns in China and presumably by less ordering from retailers facing an inventory glut.
Category |
APR |
MAR |
FEB |
JAN |
DEC |
Trade Deficit |
-$87.1B |
-$107.7B |
-$88.1B |
-$88.0B |
-$78.9B |
Exports |
$252.6B |
$244.1B |
$232.7B |
$227.8B |
$232.4B |
Imports |
$339.7B |
$351.8B |
$320.8B |
$315.8B |
$311.3B |