News Release

EMBARGOED UNTIL RELEASE AT 8:30 a.m. EDT, Tuesday, June 7, 2022
CB 22–88
BEA 22–22

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, April 2022

The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis announced today that the goods and services deficit was $87.1 billion in April, down $20.6 billion from $107.7 billion in March, revised.

U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services Deficit
Deficit:

$87.1 Billion

−19.1%°

Exports:

$252.6 Billion

+3.5%°

Imports:

$339.7 Billion

−3.4%°

Next release: Thursday, July 7, 2022

(°) Statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable. Data adjusted for seasonality but not price changes

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis; U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, June 7, 2022

Goods and Services Trade Deficit: Seasonally adjusted

Exports, Imports, and Balance (exhibit 1)

April exports were $252.6 billion, $8.5 billion more than March exports. April imports were $339.7 billion, $12.1 billion less than March imports.

The April decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $19.1 billion to $107.7 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $1.5 billion to $20.7 billion.

Year-to-date, the goods and services deficit increased $107.9 billion, or 41.1 percent, from the same period in 2021. Exports increased $151.3 billion or 18.8 percent. Imports increased $259.2 billion or 24.3 percent.

Three-Month Moving Averages (exhibit 2)

The average goods and services deficit decreased $0.3 billion to $94.3 billion for the three months ending in April.

  • Average exports increased $8.3 billion to $243.2 billion in April..
  • Average imports increased $8.0 billion to $337.4 billion in April.

Year-over-year, the average goods and services deficit increased $27.9 billion from the three months ending in April 2021.

  • Average exports increased $40.4 billion from April 2021.
  • Average imports increased $68.3 billion from April 2021.

Exports (exhibits 3, 6, and 7)

Exports of goods increased $6.1 billion to $176.1 billion in April.

  Exports of goods on a Census basis increased $6.0 billion.

  • Industrial supplies and materials increased $2.3 billion.
    • Natural gas increased $0.9 billion.
    • Other petroleum products increased $0.7 billion.
    • Other precious metals decreased $0.7 billion.
  • Foods, feeds, and beverages increased $2.2 billion.
    • Soybeans increased $2.1 billion.
  • Automotive vehicles, parts, and engines decreased $1.0 billion.
    • Civilian aircraft increased $1.3 billion.

  Net balance of payments adjustments increased $0.1 billion.

Exports of services increased $2.4 billion to $76.5 billion in April.

  • Travel increased $1.5 billion.
  • Transport increased $0.3 billion.

Imports (exhibits 4, 6, and 8)

Imports of goods decreased $13.0 billion to $283.8 billion in April.

  Imports of goods on a Census basis decreased $13.0 billion.

  • Consumer goods decreased $6.3 billion.
    • Other textile apparel and household goods decreased $1.3 billion.
    • Toys, games, and sporting goods decreased $1.1 billion.
    • Pharmaceutical preparations decreased $1.0 billion.
  • Industrial supplies and materials decreased $5.3 billion.
    • Finished metal shapes decreased $5.6 billion.
  • Capital goods decreased $2.6 billion.
    • Computers decreased $1.9 billion.
  • Automotive vehicles, parts, and engines increased $1.4 billion.
    • Trucks, buses, and special purpose vehicles increased $1.2 billion.

  Net balance of payments adjustments decreased less than $0.1 billion.

Imports of services increased $0.9 billion to $55.9 billion in April.

  • Travel increased $0.6 billion.
  • Other business services increased $0.2 billion.

Real Goods in 2012 Dollars – Census Basis (exhibit 11)

The real goods deficit decreased $19.3 billion to $116.2 billion in April.

  • Real exports of goods increased $4.8 billion to $155.0 billion.
  • Real imports of goods decreased $14.5 billion to $271.2 billion.

Revisions

Exports and imports of goods and services for all months through March 2022 shown in this release reflect the incorporation of annual revisions to the goods and services series. See the “Notice” in this release for a description of the revisions.

Revisions to March exports

  • Exports of goods were revised down $0.6 billion.
  • Exports of services were revised up $3.0 billion.

Revisions to March imports

  • Imports of goods were revised down $1.9 billion.
  • Imports of services were revised up $2.2 billion.

Goods by Selected Countries and Areas: Monthly – Census Basis (exhibit 19)

The April figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($7.7), Netherlands ($3.0), Brazil ($2.4), Hong Kong ($2.2), Australia ($1.4), United Kingdom ($1.0), Belgium ($0.6), and Singapore ($0.6). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($34.9), European Union ($17.0), Mexico ($11.5), Vietnam ($11.1), Canada ($8.7), Ireland ($6.0), Japan ($5.6), Germany ($5.2), South Korea ($3.9), Taiwan ($3.9), India ($3.8), Italy ($3.3), Malaysia ($3.1), Switzerland ($2.9), France ($1.7), Saudi Arabia ($0.9), and Israel ($0.6).

  • The deficit with China decreased $8.5 billion to $34.9 billion in April. Exports decreased $1.6 billion to $12.0 billion and imports decreased $10.1 billion to $46.9 billion.
  • The deficit with Switzerland decreased $4.7 billion to $2.9 billion in April. Exports increased $0.7 billion to $2.2 billion and imports decreased $4.1 billion to $5.1 billion.
  • The deficit with Mexico increased $1.7 billion to $11.5 billion in April. Exports increased $0.3 billion to $27.8 billion and imports increased $2.0 billion to $39.3 billion.

Goods and Services by Selected Countries and Areas: Quarterly – Balance of Payments Basis
(exhibit 20)

Statistics on trade in goods and services by country and area are only available quarterly, with a one-month lag. With this release, first-quarter figures are now available.

The first-quarter figures show surpluses, in billions of dollars, with South and Central America ($25.0), Netherlands ($9.1), Singapore ($7.8), Brazil ($7.1), Australia ($6.1), United Kingdom ($5.8), Hong Kong ($4.5), Belgium ($2.6), and Saudi Arabia ($0.2). Deficits were recorded, in billions of dollars, with China ($112.7), European Union ($35.4), Mexico ($31.8), Vietnam ($27.2), Japan ($20.0), Canada ($19.1), Germany ($16.6), Taiwan ($14.1), Malaysia ($10.4), Italy ($9.7), India ($9.6), South Korea ($9.1), Switzerland ($8.0), France ($4.2), Israel ($2.2), and Ireland ($1.7).

  • The deficit with China increased $22.9 billion to $112.7 billion in the first quarter. Exports decreased $1.1 billion to $50.0 billion and imports increased $21.8 billion to $162.7 billion.
  • The deficit with Canada increased $9.6 billion to $19.1 billion in the first quarter. Exports decreased $1.1 billion to $99.5 billion and imports increased $8.5 billion to $118.6 billion.
  • The surplus with the United Kingdom increased $2.5 billion to $5.8 billion in the first quarter. Exports increased $2.3 billion to $36.9 billion and imports decreased $0.2 billion to $31.1 billion.

 

*             *             *

All statistics referenced are seasonally adjusted; statistics are on a balance of payments basis unless otherwise specified. Additional statistics, including not seasonally adjusted statistics and details for goods on a Census basis, are available in exhibits 1-20b of this release. For information on data sources, definitions, and revision procedures, see the explanatory notes in this release. The full release can be found 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 Census Bureau’s Economic Briefing Room at www.census.gov/economic-indicators/ or on BEA’s website at www.bea.gov/news/schedule.

*             *             *

Next release: July 7, 2022, at 8:30 a.m. EDT
U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, May 2022

*             *             *

Notice

Updates to Goods and Services

In this release and in the accompanying “U.S. International Trade in Goods and Services, Annual Revision” (FT-900 Annual Revision) release, the U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) are publishing revised statistics on trade in goods and services. With these releases, statistics on trade in goods, on both a Census basis and a balance of payments (BOP) basis, are revised beginning with 2017, and statistics on trade in services are revised beginning with 2015.

Revised statistics on trade in goods reflect:

  • Corrections and adjustments to previously published not seasonally adjusted statistics for goods on a Census basis.
  • Reclassification of several commodities across end-use categories.
  • Recalculated seasonal and trading-day adjustments.
  • Newly available and revised source data on BOP adjustments, which are adjustments that BEA applies to goods on a Census basis to convert them to a BOP basis. See the “Goods (balance of payments basis)” section in the explanatory notes for more information.

Revised statistics on trade in services reflect:

  • Newly available and revised source data, primarily from BEA surveys of international services, including the results of BEA’s benchmark survey of financial services.
  • Recalculated seasonal adjustments.
  • Revised temporal distributions of quarterly source data to monthly statistics. See the “Services” section in the explanatory notes for more information.

This annual revision has not changed the overall trend in the goods and services balance. The annual goods and services deficit was revised down for all years—ranging from 0.1 percent in 2015 to 3.4 percent in 2020—primarily reflecting upward revisions to the services surplus. Downward revisions to the goods deficit for 2019–2021 also contributed to downward revisions to the goods and services deficit for these years.

The revised statistics for goods on a BOP basis and for services will also be included in the “U.S. International Transactions, First Quarter 2022 and Annual Update” report and in the international transactions interactive database, both to be released by BEA on June 23, 2022. For more information, see “Preview of the 2022 Annual Update of the International Economic Accounts” in the April 2022 Survey of Current Business.

Additional Country Detail

With this release and the release of the accompanying FT-900 Annual Revision, exhibits that present seasonally adjusted trade in goods and services by selected countries and areas—exhibits 19, 20, 20a, and 20b in the FT-900 and related exhibits 18, 19, 19a, and 19b in the FT-900 Annual Revision—have been expanded to include Australia, Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Malaysia, Netherlands, Switzerland, and Vietnam. In addition, exhibits 14 and 14a in the FT-900, which present not seasonally adjusted trade in goods by selected countries and areas, have been expanded to include Israel and Vietnam.

If you have questions, please contact the Census Bureau, Economic Indicators Division, on (800) 549-0595, option 4, or at eid.international.trade.data@census.gov or BEA, Balance of Payments Division, at InternationalAccounts@bea.gov.