The US trade deficit widened sharply in August to the largest since early 2025 as a surge in inbound shipments of capital goods helped push imports to a record.

The gap in goods and services trade grew 13.7% from the prior month to $105.6 billion, Commerce Department data showed Tuesday. Economists projected a $102.1 billion shortfall, based on the median estimate in a Bloomberg survey. The value of imports increased 4.3% and exports rose 1.4%.

The monthly trade figures, which are unadjusted for inflation, have been prone to wide swings since early 2025 because of US tariffs and more recently, war-driven volatility in crude oil prices. Supply-chain challenges and a reliance on imported technology to satisfy massive investment in artificial intelligence are also playing a role.

The August deficit in goods and services trade will likely weigh on third-quarter gross domestic product. Before the latest figures, the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta’s GDPNow forecast indicated net exports will subtract 2.59 percentage points from the calculation of GDP. That would be the most since the early 2025, ahead of the steep tariffs the Trump administration announced on “Liberation Day.”On an inflation-adjusted basis, the merchandise-trade deficit widened to $114.7 billion in August, also the largest shortfall since March 2025.

The nominal value of imports of industrial supplies, which include oil and petroleum products, rose $9.1 billion from a month earlier. Outbound shipments of those supplies increased $6.3 billion. Imports and exports of nonmonetary gold, a category that has been particularly volatile since early last year, also picked up.