The monthly U.S. international trade deficit widened more than expected in August as the trade gap in goods with Germany and South Korea climbed, while that with China narrowed.
The seasonally adjusted trade deficit in goods and services increased to $54.90 billion in August from a revised $54.04 billion recorded in the previous month. The consensus estimate of economists polled by Econoday was for a deficit of $54.5 billion.
Imports grew at a faster pace than exports. Imports climbed to $262.76 billion from a revised $261.45 billion in July, while exports rose to $207.87 billion from $207.41 billion.
Exports of goods went up to $138.58 billion from a revised $138.22 billion, while goods imports rose to $213.01 billion from a revised $211.81 billion.
The seasonally adjusted goods trade deficit with South Korea grew to $2.06 billion from $1.52 billion, while the deficit with China narrowed to $28.91 billion from $29.64 billion.
The goods trade deficit with Germany widened to $6.91 billion from $6.22 billion, while the deficit with the European Union fell to $15.62 billion from $15.88 billion.
The Trump administration recently announced that tariffs will be applied Oct. 18 to imports of aircraft, agricultural and industrial goods from the EU following a World Trade Organization ruling authorizing the U.S. to issue tariffs on roughly $7.5 billion worth of European goods in response to subsidies awarded to aircraft maker Airbus SE.
Germany's Minister for Foreign Affairs Heiko Maas reportedly said the EU will likely impose retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods.
