US Economy

US trade deficit in goods widens for fourth straight month, hits $76 billion

Key Points
  • The U.S. trade deficit widens for a fourth straight month.
  • The Census Bureau says exports grew by 1.8 percent from August to September, from $138.4 billion to $140.95 billion.
  • Imports expanded by 1.5 percent to $217 billion from $213.9 billion on a month-over-month basis.
The Yang Ming Marine Transport Corp. Oakland cargo ship is guided into the Port of Oakland by a pair of AmNav tugboats as an engineer tends to mooring lines in Oakland, California.
Tim Rue | Bloomberg | Getty Images

The U.S. trade deficit in goods widened for a fourth straight month in September, bringing it to $76 billion, according to the Census Bureau.

The data showed exports grew by 1.8 percent from August to September, from $138.4 billion to $140.95 billion. Imports, meanwhile, expanded by 1.5 percent to $217 billion from $213.9 billion on a month-over-month basis.

Wholesale inventories grew by 0.3 percent to $644.1 billion in September from $642 billion in August.

The overall trade deficit's growth comes as the U.S. and China engage in a trade war. Both countries have slapped tariffs on billions of dollars worth of each other's goods this year. The Trump administration is using tariffs to try to narrow its deficit between imports and exports.

This has kept global investors on edge, as they fear tighter trade conditions will slow the global economy.

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