U.S. Trade Deficit Widens to Record $109.8 Billion as Imports Surge

Strong U.S. demand for computers, vehicles and oil helped drive the U.S. trade deficit to a new record of $109.8 billion in March.

The Commerce Department on Wednesday said the trade deficit widened by 22.3% from the prior month. Imports rose by 10.3% to $351.5 billion as the U.S. took in far more goods than it exported. Exports, however, also rose strongly—increasing 5.6%—but didn’t keep pace with imports amid global uncertainty stemming from the conflict in Ukraine.

A sharp increase in U.S. imports in the first quarter was a big factor behind a 1.4% drop in U.S. gross domestic product.

Economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal had expected a trade deficit of $106.7 billion for March.

“It’s consumer demand, it’s trying to get inventories back with supply chains having been so disrupted,” said

Joshua Shapiro,

chief U.S. economist at Maria Fiorini Ramirez Inc. on the deficit trend. Even though exports have been pretty solid, “they’ve been swamped by the import rise,” he said.

—Anthony DeBarros contributed to this article.

Every day, millions of sailors, truck drivers, longshoremen, warehouse workers and delivery drivers keep mountains of goods moving into stores and homes to meet consumers’ increasing expectations of convenience. But this complex movement of goods underpinning the global economy is far more vulnerable than many imagined. Photo illustration: Adele Morgan

Write to Harriet Torry at harriet.torry@wsj.com

A ship at the port of Oakland in California last month.