US International Trade in Goods and Services, February 2023

The US Census Bureau and the US Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that deficit of goods and services it was $70.5 billion in February, up $1.9 billion from the revised $68.7 billion in January.

International trade deficit in US goods and services

Deficit:	70.5 billion dollars	+2.7%
Exports:	251.2 billion dollars	2.7%
Imports:	321.7 billion dollars	1.5%
Next publication: Thursday, May 4, 2023 () Statistical significance is not applicable or measurable. Data adjusted for seasonality, but not price changes Source: US Census Bureau, US Bureau of Economic Analysis; US International Trade in Goods and Services, 5 April 2023

Exports, imports and balance (export 1)

February exports were $251.2 billion, $6.9 billion less than January exports. February imports were $321.7 billion, $5.0 billion less than January imports.

February’s increase in the goods and services deficit reflected a $2.7 billion increase in the goods deficit to $93.0 billion and a $0.8 billion increase in the services surplus to $22.4 billion.

Year to date, the goods and services deficit decreased $35.5 billion or 20.3 percent from the same period in 2022. Exports increased by $49.5 billion or 10.8 percent. Imports increased by $14.0 billion or 2.2 percent.

Three-month moving average (exhibit 2)

The average deficit in goods and services rose $3.3 billion to $68.8 billion for the three months ending in February.

• Average exports decreased by $0.3 billion to $252.7 billion in February.
• Average imports increased by $3.0 billion to $321.5 billion in February.

Year-over-year, the average deficit in goods and services decreased $15.7 billion from the three months ending in February 2022.

• Average exports increased $22.0 billion from February 2022.
• Average imports rose $6.3 billion from February 2022.

Exports (exhibits 3, 6 and 7)

Merchandise exports fell $8.5 billion to $169.2 billion in February.

Census-based merchandise exports fell by $6.7 billion.

• Industrial supplies and materials fell $2.6 billion.
  • Natural gas fell $1.5 billion.
  • Non-monetary gold fell $0.5 billion.
• Vehicles, auto parts and engines fell $1.9 billion.
  • Passenger cars fell $1.2 billion.
• Consumer goods fell by $1.4 billion.
  • Pharmaceutical preparations fell by $2.3 billion.
  • Precious diamonds increased by $0.5 billion.
• Capital goods fell $1.3 billion.
  • Civil aircraft fell $0.5 billion.

Net balance of payments adjustments fell $1.9 billion.

Exports of services rose by $1.7 billion to $82.0 billion in February.

• Travel increased by $1.4 billion.

Imports (exhibits 4, 6 and 8)

Merchandise imports fell $5.8 billion to $262.2 billion in February.

Census-based merchandise imports fell by $5.9 billion.

• Consumer goods fell by $3.7 billion.
  • Cell phones and other household goods fell $1.5 billion.
  • Pharmaceutical preparations fell by $0.6 billion.
  • Cotton apparel and household goods fell $0.5 billion.
• Vehicles, auto parts and engines fell $2.9 billion.
  • Passenger cars fell $1.5 billion.
  • Trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles fell $1.1 billion.

Net balance of payments adjustments increased by $0.1 billion.

Imports of services rose by $0.8 billion to $59.5 billion in February.

• Shipping increased by $0.7 billion.

Real Goods in Census 2012 Dollars (Exhibit 11)

The real goods deficit rose $2.7 billion, or 2.7 percent, to $104.6 billion in February, compared with a 0.8 percent increase in the nominal deficit.

• Real merchandise exports decreased by $6.7 billion, or 4.1 percent, to $155.6 billion, compared with a 3.8 percent decline in nominal exports.
• Real merchandise imports fell $4.0 billion, or 1.5 percent, to $260.2 billion, compared with a 2.2 percent decline in nominal imports.

review

January export revisions

• Merchandise exports were revised up by $0.1 billion.
• Services exports were revised up to $0.6 billion.

January import revisions

• Merchandise imports were revised up to $0.1 billion.
• Imports of services were revised up to $0.8 billion.

Goods by selected countries and areas: Monthly basis of registration (exhibit 19)

February figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($4.7), Hong Kong ($2.5), the Netherlands ($1.8), Belgium ($1.6), Australia ($1.5), Brazil ($0.9) , United Kingdom ($0.5). ), and Singapore ($0.2). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($25.2), the European Union ($18.1), Mexico ($12.0), Vietnam ($8.1), Germany ($7.9), Japan ($5.7), Canada ($5.6 ), Taiwan ($4.7), South Korea ($4.5), Ireland ($3.7), India ($3.7), Italy ($3.4), Malaysia ($2.8), Switzerland ($1.7), Saudi Arabia ($0.7), Israel ($0.6) and France ($0.6).

• The deficit with China widened $3.2 billion to $25.2 billion in February. Exports fell by $1.4 billion to $13.1 billion and imports rose by $1.8 billion to $38.2 billion.
• The surplus with the UK narrowed by $2.2 billion to $0.5 billion in February. Exports decreased by $1.6 billion to $6.2 billion and imports increased by $0.7 billion to $5.7 billion.
• The surplus with Hong Kong widened by $1.0 billion to $2.5 billion in February. Exports rose $1.0 billion to $2.8 billion and imports rose less than $0.1 billion to $0.3 billion.

All statistics referenced are seasonally adjusted; statistics are based on the balance of payments, unless otherwise specified. Additional statistics, including non-seasonally adjusted statistics and details for Census commodities, are available in Exhibits 1-20b of this publication. For information on data sources, definitions and review procedures, see the explanatory notes in this publication. You can find the full publication at www.census.gov/foreign-trade/Press-Release/current_press_release/index.html or www.bea.gov/data/intl-trade-investment/international-trade-goods-and-services. The full schedule is available in the Economic Conference Room of the Registration Bureau at www.census.gov/economic-indicators/ or on the BEA website at www.bea.gov/news/schedule.

Next release: May 4, 2023, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
US International Trade in Goods and Services, March 2023