U.S. January Trade Deficit Shrinks 25% on Surging Gold Exports

[The Financial News] Amid frequent changes in the Trump administration’s trade policy, the U.S. trade deficit in January fell sharply from the previous month.
On the 12th (local time), The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that, according to the United States Department of Commerce (U.S. Department of Commerce), the U.S. trade deficit in January came in at $545 billion, down 25% from the previous month.
The deficit was far below the $670 billion figure economists had expected in a WSJ survey.
The narrowing of the deficit was driven by a combination of higher exports and lower imports. Exports in January rose 5.5% from the previous month, while imports fell 0.7%.
The U.S. Department of Commerce cited a surge in gold exports as the main factor behind the export increase. The international flow of precious metals has recently become a key driver of volatility in U.S. trade data.
By contrast, the decline in imports was largely due to reduced pharmaceutical purchases. Pharmaceuticals also show large month-to-month swings and are seen as a major contributor to the trade balance’s irregular patterns.
Since returning to The White House last year, the Trump administration has repeatedly imposed broad tariffs and revised policies in an all-out effort to suppress imports.
However, it remains unclear how much these policies have actually curbed imports. In fact, immediately after Donald Trump took office in his previous term, imports temporarily surged as companies rushed to stock up on goods before tariffs took effect, creating an unusual spike.
In the first half of 2025, the trade deficit reached $572 billion, but in the second half it narrowed to $339 billion as some tariffs were rolled back and companies went through an adjustment period.
Last month, the Supreme Court of the United States (U.S. Supreme Court) ruled that the high tariffs President Donald Trump had imposed on a wide range of countries under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) were unconstitutional.
The White House has moved quickly to invoke other legal authorities to reimpose similar tariffs through alternative means, but growing policy uncertainty is deepening market turmoil.
Experts said, "The narrowing of the deficit in January was largely driven by temporary factors such as gold exports," adding, "Amid the Trump administration’s tariff policies and the resulting reconfiguration of global supply chains, U.S. trade data is likely to remain highly volatile for the time being."

jjyoon@fnnews.com Reporter Yoon Jae-jun Reporter