Stocks on Wall Street were trading higher after strong forecasts from Caterpillar CAT.N and Palantir PLTR.O reassured investors about artificial intelligence-driven demand.
The AI buildout is, however, heavily dependent on imports, keeping the trade deficit elevated. The trade shortfall contracted 5.6% to $73.3 billion in June, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis and Census Bureau said in a separate report.
Imports dropped 1.8% to $388.0 billion. Goods imports fell 2.5% to $309.0 billion, led by a $2.1 billion decline in capital goods, which reflected a $3.0 billion drop in computers. Still, imports of computers are $95.4 billion higher so far this year compared to the same period in 2025. Imports of telecommunications equipment increased $1.1 billion in June.
Exports slipped 0.9% to $314.7 billion. Goods exports declined 1.9% to $206.9 billion, weighed down by a $3.3 billion decline in industrial supplies and materials, which include petroleum. Crude oil exports fell $5.7 billion as crude oil prices averaged $95.82 a barrel compared to $107.82 in May.
Exports of services increased $1.1 billion to $107.8 billion in June, lifted by financial and trade services.
Imports of services increased $0.6 billion to $79.0 billion, amid a rise in charges for the use of intellectual property as well as gains in transport and insurance services. But imports of travel services fell.
The government last week estimated that the trade deficit subtracted a full percentage point from gross domestic product growth in the second quarter. The economy grew at a 1.5% annualized rate last quarter, though domestic demand, driven by consumers and businesses ramping up spending on AI infrastructure, increased at its fastest pace since the first quarter of 2023.
"We still see net exports subtracting from GDP growth in the couple of quarters ahead," said Priscilla Thiagamoorthy, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets.
The nation maintained goods trade deficits with many countries, including Canada, Germany, India, Malaysia, Japan, Ireland, Italy, France and Israel. It had record goods trade deficits with Mexico, Vietnam and South Korea in June. The goods trade deficit with China widened to $15.3 billion from $14.5 billion in May. The deficits have persisted despite President Donald Trump's aggressive import tariffs.
"For the record, the trade deficit that President Trump vowed to extinguish was $79.8 billion in November 2024 when he was elected for another term, and is still $73.3 billion in today's figures for June 2026," said Christopher Rupkey, chief economist at FWDBONDS.
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