The U.S. trade deficit swelled in December, closing out a year in which the imbalance was essentially unchanged despite efforts by the Trump administration to close the wide gap.
Closing out a tumultuous year in the global marketplace, the goods and services shortfall in December totaled $70.3 billion, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. That marked an increase of $17.3 billion from November and was well above the Dow Jones consensus estimate of $55.5 billion.
For the full year, the U.S. ran a $901.5 billion deficit, down slightly from 2024 but only by 0.2%, or $2.1 billion. The total was also a bit less than the record $923.7 billion shortfall in 2022.
Yeah, no shit. Need to make things that people buy in order for that to budge. Tariffs don’t do shit for “trade deficits” (which, like, what does that even mean if you’re the global currency?) and never will.