US trade gap narrows as tariffs make an impact. View the most recent figures.

U.S. Trade Deficit Sees Significant Decline in October

According to a government announcement on January 8, the United States experienced a notable reduction in its trade deficit for October.

The gap between imports and exports for goods and services dropped to $29.4 billion, representing a 39% decrease from September’s $48.1 billion. This shift comes as tariffs continued to impact global trade flows.

Data from the Commerce Department revealed that imports fell by 3.2% to $331.4 billion, while exports increased by 2.6% to reach $302 billion. These figures were better than the expectations of analysts at Trading Economics, who had forecasted a larger deficit of $58.9 billion.

Cargo containers are offloaded from a ship in the Port of Long Beach in 2021.

Reducing the trade deficit—especially by boosting American exports—remains a central aim of the White House’s tariff strategy. However, some analysts warn that the October results may not fully capture the effects of these policies.

Economists at Wells Fargo noted in their post-report analysis that the dramatic narrowing of the deficit in October was largely driven by unusual gold transactions, a trend they expect to reverse in the near future.

They also pointed out that the government is still working through a backlog of economic data caused by the recent shutdown, and it will be several months before comprehensive trade figures for 2026 are available.