America's Trade Gap Grows Bigger

In December 2025, the US trade deficit jumped to a whopping $70.3 billion, way up from $53 billion the month before. That's a 32.6% increase, since economists thought it might shrink to about $55.5 billion instead.

Imports shot up by 3.6% to $357.6 billion that month. A big chunk came from goods like computer chips, telecom gear, and even things like gold and oil. Experts point to companies building data centers for AI tech as a key driver behind those capital goods buys. On the other side, US exports dipped 1.7% to $287.3 billion, dragged down by fewer sales of industrial materials. The Commerce Department's report, delayed a bit by last year's government shutdown, laid it all out from their Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau.

It's like people are shopping more while selling less, despite all those tariffs President Trump put in place to balance things. Looking at the whole year, the trade deficit barely budged, dropping just 0.2% to $901.5 billion. But the goods-only gap hit a record $1.24 trillion, up 2.1% from before. Imports overall climbed 4.7% to $4.3 trillion, while exports grew faster at 6.2% to $3.4 trillion. This matters because a bigger deficit can pressure the dollar, affecting prices at stores or jobs in manufacturing.

Interesting how tariffs aimed to bring factories home, but people have lost over 80,000 manufacturing jobs lately, and imports keep rising anyway. This shows trade isn't simple. Maybe it's time to rethink strategies as global shifts like AI keep changing the game.

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