US trade gap narrows as oil exports offset AI-driven imports

THE US trade deficit narrowed in April as a surge in oil exports helped offset ongoing increases in imports of equipment powering the data center buildout.

The gap in goods and services trade shrank 1.2 per cent from the prior month to US$55.9 billion, Commerce Department data showed on Tuesday (Jun 9). The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists called for a US$56.1 billion deficit.

The value of exports rose 2.6 per cent in April from the prior month, driven by a 60 per cent increase in crude oil alongside advances in fuel oil and other petroleum products. Imports advanced 2 per cent, led by computers and semiconductors.

The Iran war and the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz have stifled the flow of oil in the region, driving up prices. US producers have tried to pick up the slack.

In April, the US exported a record volume of oil, according to US Energy Information Administration data, while shipments of petrol, diesel and jet fuel also surged.

The windfall to US producers from higher oil prices has helped offset an ongoing surge in imports of capital goods tied to the buildout of data centres in the US. Imports of computers, computer accessories, telecommunications equipment and semiconductors all continued to rise.

The war has added to a pattern of volatile swings in monthly trade following ever-changing tariff announcements from Donald Trump throughout much of 2025.

Many of the levies were struck down by the Supreme Court in February, but the Trump administration has since proposed new tariffs of at least 10 per cent on imports from 60 trading partners.

Recent surveys of purchasing managers have suggested US companies are stockpiling merchandise in an effort to front-run additional war-related price hikes, echoing a rush last year to bring in imports ahead of Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs.

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Tuesday’s report will also inform upcoming negotiations surrounding the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which are set to blow past a Jul 1 deadline for extension. The US goods trade deficit with Mexico narrowed, while the shortfall with Canada grew.

Meanwhile the goods trade deficit with China narrowed. The shortfall with Vietnam — a major beneficiary of supply-chain shifts since trade tensions between the US and China erupted in Trump’s first term — widened.

Travel exports — or spending by foreign visitors in the US — fell in April, helping drag down overall services exports.

On an inflation-adjusted basis, the merchandise trade deficit narrowed to US$84.3 billion in April. BLOOMBERG