Net exports of goods and services

Exports minus imports of goods and services. A negative number is a trade deficit.

What it measures

The balance of what the United States sells abroad against what it buys, in nominal dollars, as it enters the expenditure side of GDP.

How it is measured

BEA national accounts, quarterly, at a seasonally adjusted annual rate, from Census trade statistics.

Reading it over a presidential term

Nominal and unscaled, so it grows in absolute size as the economy and world trade grow. It also moves with the dollar and with domestic demand: a strong economy buys more imports, which widens the deficit.

What it leaves out

A single net figure hides both sides — a deficit that widens because exports collapsed is a different event from one that widens because consumers bought more. It says nothing about which industries or regions were affected.

Which direction counts as better?

A trade deficit means a country is consuming more than it produces and is financed by capital flowing in; economists disagree sharply about when that is a weakness, a byproduct of a strong currency and strong demand, or simply an accounting counterpart to investment.

Chart this series · See it by president · Download the data · The source at FRED