11/23/2024

U.S. Foreign-Trade Deficit Narrowed in March

The U.S. trade gap narrowed sharply in March, partly reversing a widening in the deficit that followed hurricane-related disruptions late last summer.

The international-trade deficit in goods and services shrank 15.2% from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted $48.96 billion in March, the Commerce Department said Thursday. Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a slightly larger March deficit of $49.6 billion.

It was the largest one-month decline for the U.S. trade deficit in two years, taking it to its lowest level since September. Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria had disrupted port traffic and damaged parts of the Gulf Coast and Caribbean in August and September.

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