U.S. Trade Deficit Narrows to $105.0 Billion in September as Exports Rebound
By TopHolding Editorial · Tuesday, November 3, 2026 at 7:00 PM
U.S. trade deficit narrowed to $105.0B in September as exports outpaced imports, though tech hardware drove imports to records, First Trust reports.
According to Braden Spiech, Economic Analyst, Brian S. Wesbury, Chief Economist, and Robert Stein, CFA, Dep. Chief Economist at First Trust Portfolios, the U.S. international trade deficit narrowed slightly in September, pausing after widening across the summer. The deficit in goods and services fell to $105.0 billion, coming in below the consensus expectation of $107.9 billion. Exports climbed by $5.8 billion, led by soybeans, computers, and crude oil, which more than offset a $5.2 billion rise in imports.
First Trust's economists observe that imports reached an all-time record in September, driven by substantial business investment in computing hardware. Imports of computers, accessories, semiconductors, and telecommunications equipment have surged $332 billion year-to-date, which the analysts emphasize exceeds the $180 billion increase in total imports over the same period. They conclude that the technology sector alone drove the entire expansion of the trade deficit, attributing the demand to data center construction and artificial intelligence infrastructure. Computers and electronic products accounted for 34.8% of all goods imports in September, which the authors point out is the highest share recorded since 1999.
This shifting demand has dramatically altered U.S. trading partnerships, the economists note. Year-to-date imports from Taiwan rose 60.5% compared to the prior year, while official imports from China fell 11.5%, pushing China to fourth place among U.S. trade partners behind Mexico, Canada, and Taiwan. However, the analysts caution that Chinese exporters may be rerouting some shipments through intermediary nations. Meanwhile, the report points out that petroleum products supported outbound shipments, with higher export prices contributing over a third of the $241 billion year-to-date gain in total exports.
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Key terms
1. Trade deficit: An economic measure occurring when the value of a country's imported goods and services exceeds the value of its exports.
2. Real trade deficit: An inflation-adjusted measure of the trade balance that strips out price changes to capture actual volumes, serving as an important input for gross domestic product calculations.
Source: Braden Spiech, Economic Analyst, Brian S. Wesbury, Chief Economist, and Robert Stein, CFA, Dep. Chief Economist, First Trust Portfolios — Data Watch. Read the original at ftportfolios.com.
