The Chinese flag flies above the China Customs building at the Yantian Port terminal in Shenzhen, Guangdong province, China, October 30, 2025.
Wang Tingju | Reuters
The U.S. trade deficit widened in December, capping a year in which imbalances remained essentially unchanged despite efforts by the Trump administration to close the wide gap.
Capping off a tumultuous year in global markets, the Commerce Department reported Thursday that shortfalls in goods and services totaled $70.3 billion in December. That’s an increase of $17.3 billion from November and well above the Dow Jones consensus estimate of $55.5 billion.
For the full year, the United States had a deficit of $901.5 billion, which was actually down slightly from 2024, but only by 0.2%, or $2.1 billion. This total was slightly less than the record shortfall of $923.7 billion in 2022.
The report tracks a year in which President Donald Trump introduced a series of aggressive tariffs aimed at leveling the global playing field. In April, President Trump imposed a flat 10% tariff on all imports and announced so-called reciprocal tariffs targeting certain countries that had increased their surpluses with the United States.
However, over the course of this year, President Trump has softened many of these positions, and negotiations with major trading partners continue.
Companies brought forward imports to the first three months of this year to get ahead of tariffs. After initial efforts, the trend weakened, with October posting its lowest monthly deficit since 2009.
The United States’ largest goods deficit with the European Union (EU) was $218.8 billion, followed by China at $202.1 billion and Mexico at $196.9 billion.
Exports in 2025 totaled $3.43 trillion in 2025, an increase of $199.8 billion from 2024. Imports also increased, totaling $4.33 trillion, an increase of $197.8 billion.
