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Tracker

Trade Balance

Exports minus imports. Below zero is a trade deficit.

-$0.90T
Billions of dollars · latest, Jan 2026
vs prior quarter ▼ 14.0%
vs year ago ▲ 29.2%
1948-49 Recession · Nov 1948 – Oct 19491953-54 Recession · Jul 1953 – May 19541957-58 Recession · Aug 1957 – Apr 19581960-61 Recession · Apr 1960 – Feb 19611969-70 Recession · Dec 1969 – Nov 19701973-75 Recession · Nov 1973 – Mar 19751980 Recession · Jan 1980 – Jul 19801981-82 Recession · Jul 1981 – Nov 19821990-91 Recession · Jul 1990 – Mar 19912001 Recession · Mar 2001 – Nov 2001Global Financial Crisis · Dec 2007 – Jun 2009COVID-19 Recession · Feb 2020 – Apr 2020-$1.2T-$1.0T-$0.8T-$0.6T-$0.4T-$0.2T$0.0T19501960197019801990200020102020-$0.90T

Hover the line to read any month. Drag across the chart to zoom; double-click to reset.

These are nominal dollars, the prices of each year. Flip "today's dollars" to strip out inflation and compare real buying power across time.

Source: FRED · NETEXP · series · Jan 1947 to Jan 2026 · latest-revised

Reading it. Exports minus imports. A negative value is a trade deficit (imports exceed exports). It is an accounting balance, not a measure of gain or loss.

About the bands. Shaded spans are NBER-dated US recessions, drawn as factual overlays. They mark when the economy contracted, not why. Lining an event or policy up with a move on this chart is not evidence that it caused the move.

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