US Advance Goods Trade Deficit, August 2026 — $132.6 Billion, Goods Only on a Census Basis; Goods-and-Services Report Scheduled for October 6
Census (Sept. 30): the advance US goods deficit was $132.6 billion in August 2026, up from $118.9 billion. It excludes services; July's goods-and-services deficit was $88.6 billion.
Key figures (August 2026 advance, released September 30, 2026)
Goods trade deficit (Census basis, advance): $132.6 billion, up $13.7 billion from July ($118.9 billion). Census marks the 11.5% change with a footnote stating that statistical significance is not applicable or not measurable.[1]
Goods exports: $203.4 billion (+1.9% MoM; +14.5% YoY). Goods imports: $336.1 billion (+5.5% MoM; +27.9% YoY).[1]
Advance inventories (end of month): wholesale $965.7 billion (+0.7% ±0.2%); retail $881.6 billion (+0.3% ±0.2%). The ± ranges are 90% confidence intervals.[1]
For comparison — goods and services deficit, July 2026: $88.6 billion. August goods and services report: scheduled for October 6, 2026. Next advance report: October 28, 2026.[1][2]
Terms: MoM = change from July 2026; YoY = change from August 2025. Trade figures are monthly flows, not annualized rates; inventories are end-of-month stocks. All are "adjusted for seasonality but not price changes."[1]
Goods only, Census basis — not the headline trade deficit
The advance report covers goods only. Table 1 notes: "Data are presented on a Census basis. The information needed to convert to a balance of payment basis is not available." Current-month data have "nearly complete coverage"; complete coverage comes in the FT-900.[1]
The broader measure, the deficit in goods and services, was $88.6 billion for July 2026 — a goods deficit of $119.6 billion and a services surplus of $31.0 billion on a balance of payments basis. The August report is scheduled for October 6, 2026.[2]
The two numbers differ in month, coverage and accounting basis, so they should not be read as consecutive observations of the same series (this page's reading). For July alone, the goods deficit was $118.9 billion on a Census basis and $119.6 billion on a balance of payments basis.[1][2]
What drove imports (seasonally adjusted, $ billions)
Capital goods: 145.8 (MoM +4.0%; YoY +57.2%)[1]
Industrial supplies (includes petroleum): 62.4 (MoM +16.6%; YoY +27.0%)[1]
Consumer goods: 57.0 (MoM –1.6%; YoY +2.5%)[1]
Automotive vehicles, etc.: 35.7 (MoM +0.9%; YoY +3.2%)[1]
On exports, industrial supplies rose to $77.5 billion (+8.3% MoM, +30.2% YoY). By this page's calculation from the unrounded Table 1 figures, capital goods imports were about $53.1 billion above August 2025.[1]
Seasonally adjusted vs unadjusted
Month over month, the seasonally adjusted deficit widened by $13.7 billion, while the unadjusted deficit narrowed from $135.5 billion in July to $131.8 billion in August — about $3.6 billion, by this page's calculation from the unrounded figures.[1]
Do the import figures include tariffs?
No. Imports are valued at the Customs and Border Protection appraised value — "generally, the price paid for merchandise for export to the United States. Import duties, freight, insurance, and other charges incurred in bringing merchandise to the United States are excluded." Exports are valued free alongside ship at the US port of export.[1]
Verified facts
Each fact is labelled with its evidence typeEach fact in this section carries its evidence type — either cross-checked against independent sources, or confirmed from a single authoritative record.
Census's advance estimate puts the US international trade deficit in goods at $132.6 billion in August 2026, up $13.7 billion from $118.9 billion in July; goods exports were $203.4 billion (+$3.7 billion) and goods imports $336.1 billion (+$17.4 billion). The data are seasonally adjusted but not adjusted for price changes.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The advance figures are on a Census basis and cover goods only; Census states that the information needed to convert them to a balance of payments basis is not available, and that current-month statistics with complete coverage will be published in the FT-900 report on trade in goods and services.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The July 2026 deficit in goods and services, released September 3, was $88.6 billion, up from $71.2 billion in June (revised); it reflected a goods deficit of $119.6 billion and a services surplus of $31.0 billion (balance of payments basis). The goods-and-services report for August is scheduled for October 6, 2026.[2] 1 source · authoritative record
Compared with August 2025, goods exports were up 14.5 percent and goods imports up 27.9 percent; imports of capital goods were $145.8 billion, up 57.2 percent from August 2025 and 4.0 percent from July.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Census values imports at the Customs and Border Protection appraised value; import duties, freight, insurance and other charges of bringing goods into the United States are excluded.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Advance wholesale inventories were $965.7 billion at the end of August, up 0.7 percent (±0.2 percent) from July; advance retail inventories were $881.6 billion, up 0.3 percent (±0.2 percent). The ranges are 90 percent confidence intervals.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
The September 2026 advance report is scheduled for October 28, 2026.[1] 1 source · authoritative record
Statements and readings
Not counted as facts — each item shows what kind of statement it isFrom here on: statements not counted as facts — single-source reports, the issuing body’s own statements, and this page’s own readings, each labeled.
The seasonally adjusted goods deficit was about $47.5 billion larger than in August 2025 ($85.2 billion). Capital goods imports alone were about $53.1 billion higher than a year earlier.[1] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from the unrounded figures in Table 1
Month over month, the goods deficit widened in the seasonally adjusted series ($118.9 billion to $132.6 billion) but narrowed by about $3.6 billion in the unadjusted series ($135.5 billion to $131.8 billion).[1] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from the unrounded figures in Table 1
The $132.6 billion August figure and the $88.6 billion July headline are not directly comparable as consecutive observations of one series: they differ in month, coverage (goods only versus goods and services) and accounting basis (Census versus balance of payments).[1][2] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's reading of the Census and BEA releases
For the same month, July 2026, the goods deficit was $118.9 billion on a Census basis and $119.6 billion on a balance of payments basis, a difference of about $0.7 billion; the July goods-and-services deficit of $88.6 billion also nets in a $31.0 billion services surplus.[1][2] This page’s own calculation or reading · This page's calculation from the two releases
Timeline
- 2026-09-03
July 2026 goods-and-services deficit released: $88.6 billion.[2]
- 2026-09-30
Advance August 2026 goods deficit: $132.6 billion (CB26-159).[1]
- 2026-10-06
Scheduled release of US International Trade in Goods and Services, August 2026.[2]
- 2026-10-28
Scheduled September 2026 advance economic indicators report.[1]
What this page could not establish
These are questions this page tried to answer and could not. The gaps are left open rather than filled with a guess.- The complete August 2026 goods-and-services deficit on a balance of payments basis
- Which products and countries drove the jump in capital goods imports
- Model
- claude-opus-5
- Time
- 10/05/2026, 10:10
- Body characters
- 2,679
- Sources
- 2 sources adopted
- Model
- ChatGPT (checked sources on the web)
- Time
- 10/05/2026, 09:43
- Verdict
- Revision required
Show revision history (3)
| 10/05/2026, 09:00 | First authored (claude-opus-5) | Created |
| 10/05/2026 | First version. Read the August 2026 Advance Economic Indicators Report in full, including explanatory notes and Tables 1-3, and the July 2026 goods-and-services news release text; quotations, table rows and figures machine-matched against the source text. | Updated |
| 10/05/2026 | Independent pre-publication review (ChatGPT) against the sources; findings confirmed by the source text were applied. | Updated |
Frequently asked
What was the US trade deficit in August 2026?
The advance goods-only deficit was $132.6 billion. The goods-and-services deficit for August is scheduled for release on October 6, 2026; July's was $88.6 billion.[1][2]
How does the advance goods deficit differ from the goods-and-services headline?
The advance figure covers goods only on a Census basis; the headline adds services (a $31.0 billion surplus in July) and uses a balance of payments basis. The figures quoted here are also for different months.[1][2]
Do US import figures include tariffs paid?
No. Census excludes import duties, freight and insurance from the import value.[1]
How much did US goods imports rise in August 2026?
Goods imports were $336.1 billion, up $17.4 billion (5.5%) from July and 27.9% from August 2025.[1]