A ship at the port of Oakland in California last month.
Photo: Michael Ho Wai Lee/Zuma Press
Strong U.S. demand for computers, vehicles and oil helped drive the U.S. trade deficit to a new record of $109.8 billion in March.
The Commerce Department on Wednesday said the trade deficit widened by 22.3% from the prior month. Imports rose by 10.3% to $351.5 billion as the U.S. took in far more goods than it exported. Exports, however, also rose strongly—increasing 5.6%—but didn’t keep pace with imports amid global uncertainty stemming from the conflict in Ukraine.
A sharp increase in U.S. imports in the first quarter was a big factor behind a 1.4% drop in U.S. gross domestic product.
Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a trade deficit of $106.7 billion for March.
“It’s consumer demand, it’s trying to get inventories back with supply chains having been so disrupted,” said Joshua Shapiro, chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. on the deficit trend. Even though exports have been pretty solid, “they’ve been swamped by the import rise,” he said.
—Anthony DeBarros contributed to this article.
Write to Harriet Torry at [email protected]
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