US trade deficit falls to 16-year low

Monthly trade deficit continued to shrink in October after Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on imports

- ANA SWANSON

Cranes at the Port of Los Angeles last May. The US trade deficit in goods and services shrank to $29.4 billion in October, down from $48.1 billion the prior month.

The US trade deficit in goods and services shrank to $29.4 billion in October, down from $48.1 billion the prior month as the Trump administration's tariffs reshaped global trade, data from the Commerce Department showed Thursday.

The figure was the lowest monthly trade deficit recorded since June 2009. US imports have fallen while exports have remained strong, decreasing the trade deficit and seemingly accomplishing a major goal for President Donald Trump.

But economists cautioned that some of the trend resulted from temporary fluctuations in trade in certain products, like gold and pharmaceuticals. Because of a surge in imports early last year, the overall trade deficit from January to October was still up 7.7% from the previous year.

Imports in October fell 3.2% to $331.4 billion from the previous month, while exports rose 2.6% to $302 billion. Because exports grew more than imports, the US trade deficit narrowed.

Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody's Analytics, said there was a lot of noise in the data for the month, and that gold and silver markets in particular had been "bonkers."