The U.S. goods and services trade deficit narrowed slightly in April, coming in at $55.9 billion, down $0.7 billion from a revised $56.6 billion in March.
The figures were released by the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis. April exports totaled $327.1 billion, up $8.3 billion from March. April imports were $383.0 billion, up $7.6 billion from March.
The April decrease in the overall deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $2.4 billion, bringing it to $83.7 billion. At the same time, the services surplus decreased $1.7 billion to $27.8 billion.
The year-to-date picture is more dramatic. The goods and services deficit decreased $213.5 billion, or 49.1 percent, from the same period in 2025. Exports increased $128.2 billion, or 11.3 percent, while imports decreased $85.3 billion, or 5.5 percent.
On the export side, goods exports increased $8.7 billion to $221.3 billion in April. Capital goods drove much of that gain, rising $4.0 billion. Computers increased $2.5 billion. Civilian aircraft rose $1.0 billion. Crude oil exports surged $6.4 billion, while fuel oil climbed $1.3 billion. Those gains were partially offset by a $5.8 billion decrease in nonmonetary gold exports and a $1.9 billion drop in other precious metals.
Exports of services fell slightly, down $0.4 billion to $105.8 billion. Travel, transport, and maintenance and repair services each declined modestly, while other business services rose $0.2 billion.
Imports of goods rose $6.4 billion to $304.9 billion in April, with capital goods leading the increase.
Along with the April report, the Census Bureau and BEA published revised trade statistics as part of an annual revision. Statistics on trade in goods were revised back to 2021. Statistics on trade in services were revised back to 1999. The revisions reflect corrections to previously published data, end-use reclassifications, and improvements to the method for estimating transport services, among other changes.
Updated statistics will also be included in the U.S. International Transactions report covering the first quarter of 2026, which BEA is scheduled to release on June 24, 2026.
