| Chart of the Day |
| SEPTEMBER 30, 2026 |
ECONOMY • TRADE |
|
| America Bought $88.6 Billion More Than It Sold in July |
| While everyone argued about tariffs, the trade gap kept getting wider. |
|
|
|
|
| Monthly U.S. goods and services trade deficit in billions. July’s $88.6 billion was the widest gap since March 2025. |
| Source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 2026 |
|
| In January, America’s monthly trade deficit was $53 billion. By July, it was $89 billion. That’s a 68% jump in six months. |
| Most people figured tariffs would close this gap. And for the first four months of 2026, it looked like they might. The deficit held around $53 billion a month... steady, almost boring. |
| Then May came in at $76 billion. June, $71 billion. And July hit $88.6 billion, the widest monthly gap since the tariff front-running panic of early 2025. |
| Here’s what happened. After companies crammed imports through the door in early 2025 to beat tariff deadlines, warehouses filled up. That created a lull. But inventory runs out. When it did, the buying came right back... bigger than before. |
| At July’s pace, America is spending $2.9 billion a day more than it earns from the rest of the world. The annual trade deficit topped $900 billion in both 2024 and 2025. If the back half of 2026 looks anything like July, we’re headed for a number this country has never seen. |
