Trade deficit soared 94% in November and was higher than a year ago, despite tariff efforts
A boat passes a cargo ship carrying containers at the Yantian port terminal in Shenzhen, China’s Guangdong province, October 30, 2025.
Tingshu Wang | Reuters
The U.S. deficit with global trading partners nearly doubled in November as the deficit with the European Union widened and the impact of President Donald Trump’s tariffs on the economy increased, the Census Bureau reported Thursday.
In the period following a month trade deficit After seeing its lowest level since the beginning of 2009, it increased by 94.6% compared to October, reaching 56.8 billion dollars. Nearly a third of that gain came from the European Union, where the goods deficit increased by $8.2 billion. The goods deficit with China decreased by approximately 1 billion dollars to 13.9 billion dollars.
On an annual basis, the deficit until November amounted to 839.5 billion dollars; This is approximately 4% higher than in the same period in 2024.
The increase in the deficit runs counter to Trump’s efforts to use tariffs to reduce imbalances around the world. When announcing so-called reciprocal tariffs in April 2025, the White House used the level of trade deficits with various countries as the basis for determining the duties.
As the year went on, Trump softened his stance. The framework agreement signed between the US and the EU in August set tariffs on most European products at 15% and aimed to stabilize relations between the two sides.
