The U.S. goods and services gap rose by $13 billion to $80.2 billion from October to November, the Census Bureau reported Thursday, mainly thanks to more goods imports ahead of the holiday season. The latest figures, along with a record deficit increase in September, raised the three-month moving average trade gap to $76.3 billion, $11.7 billion higher than it was in the three-month period that ended November 2020.
The goods deficit—which excludes services—now runs $99.0 billion after goods imports increased by $12.0 billion and exports of material goods fell $2.9 billion. In total, the U.S. exported $155.9 billion and imported $254.9 billion.
Amid an ongoing supply chain crisis for manufacturers, industrial supplies and materials drove about half of the increase in new goods imports. Of $12.0 billion in new goods imports in November, $5.9 billion of it was spent on supplies for businesses. Finished metal shapes and crude oil imports rose by $1.5 billion and $1.3 billion, respectively. Consumer goods contributed $3.0 billion to new goods imports while imports of trucks and cars from other countries rose $1.2 billion.
Though net U.S. exports increased in November, exports of goods actually fell by $2.9 billion. Of that, capital goods exports—including telecommunications equipment, civilian aircraft engines, and other industrial machines—fell by $1.2 billion. Industrial supplies and materials exports fell a total of $0.9 billion as nonmonetary gold exports fell $1.4 billion but were offset by a small increase in crude oil.
At the same time, the U.S. increased its services surplus by $2.1 billion to $18.8 billion. Exports outpaced imports growth in travel and transport as exports rose to $68.3 billion and imports rose to $49.5 billion.
Internationally, the U.S. recorded higher deficits with Europe and Canada on substantial import increases. $2.2 billion more in imports from European Union drove the U.S.-E.U. trade gap to $19.4 billion, while $2.8 billion more in Canadian imports drove the United States’ deficit with its northern neighbor to $5.4 billion.
Meanwhile, the U.S.-China trade gap, its largest, remained stable at $28.4 billion, and the U.S.-South Korea trade gap fell slightly.
