The Big Story 

The U.S. trade deficit grew to $88.6 billion in July, rising to its highest level in more than a year, according to new data from the Commerce Department.

© Mario Tama, Getty Images

The flow of goods and services out of the U.S. increased by $17.4 billion, ticking up from $71.2 billion in June. It marks the largest trade deficit since March 2025, when the figure sat at nearly $133 billion.

The uptick appears to be driven by an increase in imports of computers, computer accessories and semiconductors, resulting in a $10.8 billion rise in imports overall.

Meanwhile, exports dipped by $6.6 billion, as the country shipped out less crude oil and gold in July.

The U.S. maintained multibillion-dollar trade deficits with Mexico, Vietnam, Taiwan, China, South Korea and the European Union, among others. Its deficit with Canada, which currently finds itself in a trade war with America, decreased to $3.2 billion.

President Trump has long railed against the U.S. trade deficit, pointing to the measure as a key reason for imposing wide-ranging tariffs.

Despite the uptick, White House senior deputy press secretary Kush Desai argued in a post on the social platform X on Thursday that the latest data offers “more evidence that President Trump’s trade agenda is working.”

He highlighted the year-to-date numbers, which showed the deficit down $188.4 billion, or 29.6 percent, from the same period in 2025.

“Capital goods imports, the machinery and equipment we need to reindustrialize, were the highest share of goods imports on record,” Desai added, referring to the influx of computers and chips.

Welcome to The Hill’s Business & Economy newsletter, I'm Questo indirizzo email è protetto dagli spambots. È necessario abilitare JavaScript per vederlo.">Julia Shapero — bringing you the latest on the intersection of Wall Street and Pennsylvania Avenue.

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