美國4月貿易逆差大幅收窄；進口創歷史新低

Recently Yahoo News on-line picked up the following:

US trade deficit narrows sharply in April; imports post record drop

Reuters - Reporting by Lucia Mutikani; Editing by Andrea Ricci

Thu, June 5, 2025 at 7:16 a.m. PDT·3 min read

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The U.S. trade deficit narrowed sharply in April, with imports decreasing by the most on record as the front-running of goods ahead of tariffs ebbed, which could provide a lift to economic growth this quarter.

The trade gap contracted by a record 55.5% to $61.6 billion, the lowest level since September 2023, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis said on Thursday. Data for March was revised to show the trade deficit having widened to an all-time high of $138.3 billion rather than the previously reported $140.5 billion.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast the deficit narrowing to $70.0 billion. The goods trade deficit eased by a record 46.2% to $87.4 billion, the lowest level since October 2023.

A rush to beat import duties helped to widen the trade deficit in the first quarter, which accounted for a large part of the 0.2% annualized rate of decline in gross domestic product last quarter. The contraction in the deficit, at face value, suggests that trade could significantly add to GDP this quarter, but much would depend on the state of inventories.

Imports decreased by a record 16.3% to $351.0 billion in April. Goods imports slumped by a record 19.9% to $277.9 billion. They were held down by a $33.0 billion decline in imports of consumer goods, mostly pharmaceutical preparations from Ireland. Imports of cellphones and other household goods fell $3.5 billion.

Imports of industrial supplies and materials declined $23.3 billion, reflecting decreases in finished metal shapes and other precious metals.

Motor vehicle, parts and engines imports fell $8.3 billion with passenger cars accounting for much of the decline. The front-loading of imports is probably not over. Higher duties for most countries have been postponed until July, while those for Chinese goods have been delayed until mid-August.

President Donald Trump's administration had given U.S. trade partners until Wednesday to make their "best offers" to avoid other punishing import levies from taking effect in early July.

Imports from Canada were the lowest since May 2021, while those from China were the lowest since March 2020. But imports from Vietnam and Taiwan were the highest on record.

Exports rose 3.0% to $289.4 billion, an all-time high. Goods exports increased 3.4% to a record $190.5 billion. They were boosted by a $10.4 billion jump in industrial supplies and materials, mostly finished metal shapes, nonmonetary gold and crude oil.

Capital goods exports advanced $1.0 billion, lifted by computers. But exports of motor vehicles, parts and engines fell $3.3 billion, held down by passenger cars as well as trucks, buses and special purpose vehicles.

Exports of services increased $2.1 billion to $98.9 billion, lifted by travel, despite reports of decreased tourist visits because of the trade tensions and an immigration crackdown.

The United States had record goods trade surpluses with Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Switzerland. But it had record deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand, while the gap with Canada was the smallest since April 2021.

 Translation

美國4月貿易逆差大幅收窄；進口創歷史新低

華盛頓（路透）－ 美國4月貿易逆差大幅收窄，因關稅前搶購商品的現象減弱，進口降幅創歷史新低，這可能提振本季經濟成長。

美國商務部經濟分析局週四表示，美國貿易差额創紀錄地縮減了55.5%，至616億美元，為2023年9月以來的最低水準。 3月的數據經過修正，顯示貿易逆差擴大至1,383億美元的歷史最高水平，而非先前公佈的1,405億美元。

路透社調查的經濟學家預測，貿易逆差將收窄至700億美元。商品貿易逆差因創紀錄的46.2% 的874億美元而緩解了，這是2023年10月以來的最低的。

為逃避進口關稅而採取的措施導致第一季貿易逆差擴大，這在很大程度上導致了上季GDP折合成年率下降0.2%。從表面上看，逆差的收縮表明貿易可能在本季度顯著促進GDP成長，但這在很大程度上取決於庫存狀況。

4月份進口額創紀錄地下降了16.3%，至3,510億美元。商品進口額創紀錄地暴跌了19.9%，至2,779億美元。消費品進口額下降了330億美元，主要是來自愛爾蘭的藥品製劑。手機和其他家居用品的進口額下降了35億美元。

工業用品和材料的進口額下降了233億美元，反映了金屬形狀成品和其他貴金屬進口額的下降。

汽車、零件和引擎進口額下降了83億美元，其中乘客車佔了很大一部分。提前進口可能尚未結束。大多數國家的關稅上調已被推遲到7月，而對中國商品的關稅上調也被推遲到8月中旬。

特朗普總統政府已要求美國貿易夥伴在周三之前提出 “最佳方案” ，以避免其他的美國懲罰性進口稅在7月初生效。

來自加拿大的進口額為2021年5月以來的最低水平，而來自中國的進口額為2020年3月以來的最低水平。但來自越南和台灣的進口額創歷史新高。

出口額成長3.0%，達2,894億美元，創歷史新高。商品出口額成長3.4%，達到創紀錄的1,905億美元。工業用品和材料（主要是金屬形狀成品）、非貨幣黃金和原油出口額增加了104億美元，推動了出口成長。

受電腦出口帶動，資本貨物出口增加10億美元。但機動車、零件和引擎出口下降33億美元，受乘客車、運貨車、巴士和專用車輛出口拖累。

服務出口增加21億美元，達到989億美元，儘管有報道稱，由於貿易緊張局勢和移民打擊，遊客數量有所下降。

美國與香港、英國和瑞士的商品貿易順差創歷史新高。但與越南、台灣和泰國的貿易逆差創歷史新高，與加拿大的貿易差額則為2021年4月以來的最小。

So, the U.S. trade deficit narrows sharply in April. The trade gap contracts by a record 55.5% to $61.6 billion, the lowest level since September 2023. Exports of services increase $2.1 billion to stand at $98.9 billion, lifted by travel, despite reports of decreased tourist visits because of the trade tensions and an immigration crackdown. The United States has record goods trade surpluses with Hong Kong, the United Kingdom and Switzerland while it has record deficits with Vietnam, Taiwan and Thailand. It seems that trading situations of the US is so far so good.