U.S. Trade Balance: Goods

## What this measures

The value of goods the United States exported in a month minus the value of goods it imported, on the balance of payments basis, in billions of dollars, seasonally adjusted. A negative number is a deficit.

## Why it matters

Goods are where the U.S. trade deficit lives. Tariffs, the dollar, and the strength of U.S. demand relative to the rest of the world all show up here first.

## How to read it

Below zero is a deficit; a more negative number is a wider deficit. Compare with the services balance, which usually runs the other way, and with the total. Single months swing on shipments timed around tariff changes, so read several months together.

## What it does not say

It does not say who the trade is with, or which goods. A wider deficit can mean strong U.S. demand rather than weakness. The balance of payments basis adjusts the Census customs data for coverage and timing, so it differs slightly from the customs-basis figures.

## Source

U.S. Census Bureau and U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services (FT-900), series BOPGTB. Palanor pulls it from the FRED API (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis) nightly. Works of the U.S. government are in the public domain.