The US Census Bureau through the Department of Commerce announced Wednesday that total September exports of $154.1 billion and imports of $198.1 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $44 billion, down from the $46.5 billion in August, shrinking the trade deficit 5.3 percent.
September exports were $0.5 billion more than August exports of $153.6 billion, an increase of about 0.3 percent, while September imports were $2 billion less than August imports of $200.1 billion.
Exports of goods were virtually unchanged at $107.6 billion, and imports of goods decreased $2.2 billion to $164.4 billion. Exports of services increased $0.5 billion to $46.5 billion, and imports of services increased $0.3 billion to $33.7 billion.
Shipments of iron and steel mill products in September were up about 1.4 percent to $806,000, up from 795,000 in August, and shipments of metallurgical coal also experienced an increase over the month, rising from $702,000 in August to $714,000 in September. Exports of steelmaking materials were up in September as well, increasing 8.6 percent from $863,000 in August, to $945,000 in September.
Imports of iron and steel mill products, and steelmaking materials both saw a decline from August to September, decreasing from $1.3 million to $1.1 million, and $563,000 to $478,000, respectively.