US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August
The shortfall reached its highest level since March 2025, driven by increased imports.
AI-assisted coverage comparison, editor-supervised · How this was made
US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August
Photograph: Bloomberg (embedded from source)
What this story says
- The US trade deficit in goods increased by 11.5% in August to $132.6 billion.
- This deficit is the largest recorded since March 2025.
- The increase was driven by a rise in imports.
- The US Department of Commerce released the data on Wednesday.
Who covered it
Percentages are shares of the 7 outlets carrying a published leaning rating. 7 of the 14 outlets we know ran this story carry no rating and are not counted in them. Coverage measured .
Trust
42/100
Craft
57/100
Hype
41/100
14 sources · methodology
Missing from the left
None of the 7 outlets with a published leaning rating that ran this story are rated left.
A reader who follows the left would not have seen this. We report the absence rather than explain it: outlets choose what to cover for many reasons, and we have no evidence about which one applies here.
The US trade deficit in goods rose by 11.5% in August to $132.6 billion, according to data released by the US Department of Commerce on Wednesday. This figure represents the highest goods trade deficit since March 2025. The increase was primarily attributed to a surge in imports.
The widening deficit may act as a drag on US Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth in the third quarter. Several reports noted that the increase in imports was the main driver of the deficit's expansion.
Disagreement on market expectations
Haberler reported that the August deficit exceeded market expectations of $116.3 billion. Yenicaggazetesi also stated that the deficit exceeded market expectations, though it did not provide a specific figure for those expectations.
What the coverage left out
None of the centre-rated or right-rated digests mention the specific figure for market expectations that Haberler reported.
Coverage settled. We checked this 29 times and stopped on 6 Oct 2026, 07:15. The figures above are what it finished at.
How each side covered it
Our own reading of the reporting listed below, written from the outlets’ articles rather than quoted from them. The reasoning is set out on our methodology page.
Left
0 rated outlets
No outlet rated left ran this story. We watched the coverage until it stopped changing, and none appeared.
Centre
3 rated outlets
- The centre-rated reports led with the unexpected widening of the US merchandise-trade deficit in August. Bloomberg noted this was due to a jump in imports of industrial supplies such as petroleum products. WTVB reported that the deficit widened sharply amid a surge in imports, suggesting trade could remain a drag on economic growth in the third quarter.
Right
4 rated outlets
- Right-rated reports highlighted the sharp increase in the US goods trade deficit in August. Latestly, Tribune India, and Business Times all stated the deficit increased 11.5% to $132.6 billion. Globo reported the deficit was $132.6 billion, an increase of 11.5% compared to the previous month, and detailed that exports rose $3.7 billion while imports advanced $17.4 billion.
Questions about this coverage
- How did the left and right cover US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August?
- Of the 7 outlets on this story carrying a published leaning rating, 0% are rated left, 43% are rated centre, 57% are rated right. Those percentages are shares of the rated outlets, not of every outlet that ran it, which was 14. The sections above set out what each side emphasised, in its own terms.
- Is US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August left or right?
- Too few of the outlets on this story carry a published leaning rating to say. 7 of them do, and this site does not characterise a field under 12: at that size one newsroom filing moves the share by ten points. The percentages above are the count as it stands.
- Is the coverage of US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August biased?
- US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August is one event reported by 14 outlets, and this page does not rate the story as biased or unbiased. What it publishes is the spread: which outlets ran it, where named rating organisations place each of them on the spectrum, and what each side chose to lead with. A leaning rating describes an outlet's record over time, not this article, and the two should not be run together.
- Which side is not reporting US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August?
- When we first saw this story, outlets rated left had barely covered it. Coverage accretes for hours after an event, so that is where to look rather than a verdict — the split above is the current count, and it is the one to read.
- Which outlets covered US trade deficit in goods rose 11.5% in August?
- 14 that we know of, every one of them listed further up this page with a link to its own report and to what we hold on the publisher. Nothing here is a summary of somebody else's summary: the outlets are named so the original reporting can be read.
- What was the US trade deficit in goods in August?
- The US trade deficit in goods increased by 11.5% in August to $132.6 billion. This figure marks the largest deficit recorded since March 2025.
- What caused the increase in the trade deficit?
- The increase in the US trade deficit in August was primarily driven by a rise in imports. Several reports indicated a significant surge in the value of imported goods.
- How might the trade deficit affect the US economy?
- The widening trade deficit may act as a drag on US economic growth, potentially slowing back growth in US GDP in the third quarter. This is a consequence of increased spending on imports.
Read it at the source
14 outlets, grouped by the leaning a published rating gives them. Every headline links to the original; an underlined outlet name opens our profile of that publisher.
Left
0No outlet in this group ran the story.
Centre
3Right
4- US Goods Trade Deficit Sees Sharp Increase in August (opens Latestly in a new tab)
- US goods trade deficit sees sharp increase in August - The Tribune (opens Tribune India in a new tab)
Tribune India — is Tribune India biased? Our profile of this outlet
- US goods trade deficit widens sharply in August (opens Business Times in a new tab)
Business Times — is Business Times biased? Our profile of this outlet
- U.S. Trade Balance Has Deficit of $132.6 Bi in August (opens Globo in a new tab)
Not rated
7- Dean Baker – Trade Deficit Soars in August: Trump’s Tariffs Don’t Seem to be Working (opens Brave New Europe in a new tab)
Brave New Europe — is Brave New Europe biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- Soaring Trade Deficit In August Suggests Trump Tariffs Are Failing (opens Phil's Stock World in a new tab)
Phil's Stock World — is Phil's Stock World biased? Our profile of this outletOpinion
- US Shoots 11.5% Its Trade Deficit up to 132.6 Billion (opens negocios.com in a new tab)
negocios.com — is negocios.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- Significant Increase in US Trade Deficit: Highest Level in 17 Months. (opens yenicaggazetesi.com in a new tab)
yenicaggazetesi.com — is yenicaggazetesi.com biased? Our profile of this outlet
- The U.S. Goods Trade Deficit Increased by 11.5 Percent in August to $132.6 Billion. (opens Haberler in a new tab)
- US Merchandise Trade Deficit Unexpectedly Widened in August (opens BizToc in a new tab)
- U.S. Goods Trade Deficit Is Widening Sharply in August (opens El Economista in a new tab)
El Economista — is El Economista biased? Our profile of this outlet
How did this read?
About the coverage, not about the story. We do not ask whether you agree with what happened — we have no honest use for that answer.
