Briefing.com: Trade Balance

Updated: 03-Jul-24 09:39 ET

May Trade Balance

Updated: 03-Jul-24 09:39 ET

Highlights

The trade deficit widened to $75.1 billion in May (Briefing.com consensus -$76.0 billion) from an upwardly revised $74.5 billion (from -$74.6 billion) in April. That was result of export being $1.8 billion less than April exports and imports being $1.2 billion less than April imports.

Key Factors

Exports of industrial supplies and materials decreased $2.1 billion.
Exports of automotive vehicles, parts, and engines decreased $0.5 billion.
Imports of consumer goods decreased $2.0 billion, although imports of cell phones and other household goods increased $1.0 billion.
Imports of automotive vehicles, parts, and engines decreased $1.5 billion.
The deficit with China increased $1.9 billion to $23.9 billion in May with exports down $0.5 billion and imports up $1.3 billion.
The real goods deficit widened to $94.5 billion in May from $94.0 billion in April. That left the Q2 average deficit 7.9% more than the Q1 average.

Big Picture

The key takeaway from the report is that there were declines in both exports and imports, signaling that trade demand overall was softer in May.