The trade deficit for April stood at $61.60 billion, the lowest since 2023, declining by more than half from the $140 billion recorded in March.

The U.S. trade deficit narrowed significantly in April due to the largest-ever decline in imports during the month as President Donald Trump’s tariffs brought an abrupt end to front-loading of purchases by companies.

According to data released by the U.S. Commerce Department, the trade deficit for April stood at $61.60 billion, the lowest since 2023, declining by more than half from the $140 billion recorded in March.

During the month, imports of goods and services declined by over 16%, while exports increased by 3%.

This comes at a time when there is uncertainty about the tariffs – companies like Procter & Gamble have flagged a decline in consumer sentiment and projected a $600 million hit in fiscal year 2026.

A court ruling last week blocked Trump’s tariffs. Although the administration obtained a stay while it appealed the order, it has created uncertainty about the end result of the President’s tariff policies.

However, it’s unclear how the trade deficit will shape up in May and June. After announcing his ‘Liberation Day’ tariffs on April 2, President Trump paused them for 90 days but engaged in a tit-for-tat trade war with China.

A month later, on May 12, the U.S. and China announced a preliminary trade deal and paused most tariffs for 90 days. Despite this, the administrations of both countries have been calling each other out for violating this initial agreement.

Trump’s tariff pause with all other countries will expire on July 9 – 90 days from April 9. During this time, the Trump administration announced just one trade deal, with the U.K.

That said, Treasury officials have revealed that the Trump administration is close to inking trade deals with two additional countries. It’s not clear when these deals will be arrived at, though.

Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF (SPY), which represents the S&P 500 index, was up 0.04% at the time of writing.

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