US trade deficit narrows to $105.0 billion as computer imports surge

What the September trade data showed

The U.S. goods and services trade deficit was $105.0 billion in September 2026, down $0.7 billion from a revised $105.7 billion in August, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the Census Bureau said on Nov. 4. Exports rose $5.8 billion to $321.5 billion, and imports rose $5.2 billion to $426.6 billion.^[1]

The goods deficit fell $0.7 billion to $135.9 billion. The services surplus was little changed at $30.9 billion. The figures are seasonally adjusted and not adjusted for price changes, the agencies said.^[1]

On a longer view the deficit is still running higher than a year ago. The average deficit for the three months ending in September was $101.2 billion, up $11.3 billion from the prior three-month period and $36.5 billion above the three months ending in September 2025. Year to date, the deficit is $92.4 billion, or 12.2 percent, lower than in the same period of 2025, with exports up 11.6 percent and imports up 6.2 percent.^[1]

What drove imports and exports

Capital goods imports rose $11.6 billion in September, more than twice the $5.2 billion rise in total imports. Computers accounted for $7.6 billion of that and computer accessories for $5.7 billion, while semiconductor imports fell $1.2 billion. Pharmaceutical preparations rose $2.9 billion, and nonmonetary gold fell $2.7 billion. The agencies' import categories overlap, so the line items do not sum to the total.^[1]

On the export side, goods exports rose $5.1 billion to $211.0 billion. Capital goods rose $3.8 billion, including computers (up $1.3 billion) and civilian aircraft (up $0.7 billion). Foods, feeds and beverages rose $1.9 billion, with soybeans up $1.3 billion. Nonmonetary gold exports fell $3.4 billion.^[1]

Bloomberg reported on Oct. 28, on the Census Bureau's advance goods-only release, that September capital goods imports hit a record and attributed the rise to AI data-center equipment. The advance goods deficit was $134.9 billion on a different accounting basis from the $135.9 billion in the full release. Bloomberg said the capital goods deficit was $54.3 billion larger than a year earlier, more than the entire widening of the total goods deficit over that period.^[2]

The Coalition for a Prosperous America, a trade advocacy group, made a similar point about the August data. Its senior economist Andrew Rechenberg said: "The data center build-out is moving the trade deficit." The group's analysis is advocacy, and its figures for August were on a goods-only basis.^[3]

Where the largest trade deficits are

In September the largest goods deficits were with Mexico ($28.7 billion), Vietnam ($25.3 billion), Taiwan ($21.9 billion), China ($17.9 billion) and the European Union ($14.2 billion), on a Census basis. The deficit with Taiwan rose $3.6 billion to $21.9 billion, with imports up $4.2 billion to $27.3 billion. The deficit with the European Union rose $3.2 billion to $14.2 billion. The deficit with Canada fell $2.7 billion to $4.4 billion.^[1]

What happens next

Before the Nov. 4 release, Bloomberg said the Atlanta Fed's GDPNow model had net exports subtracting 2.86 percentage points from third-quarter GDP growth, compared with 1.10 points in the second quarter. The agencies will publish October trade data on Dec. 8, 2026.^[2][1]