The US trade deficit widened sharply in December and the annual goods trade deficit rose by 2.1 per cent year on year to a record US$1.24 trillion in 2025, despite the widespread imposition of tariffs, US Commerce Department data showed. The goods trade deficit with China fell to a 21-year low. The gap between US exports and imports of goods and services hit US$70.3 billion in December, up 32.6 per cent from November, contributing to a full-year deficit of US$901.5 billion, down just 0.2 per...
SRCSouth China Morning Post
LANGEN
LEANCenter-Right
WORDS85
ENT3
FRI · 2026-02-20 · 09:00 GMTBRIEF NSR-2026-0220-17825
NSR-2026-0220-17825News Report·EN·Economic Impact
US trade deficit widens, Spring Gala performances, Merz visit
In December 2025, the US trade deficit significantly widened, increasing 32.6% from November to US$70.3 billion, according to the US Commerce Department. This contributed to a total annual deficit of US$901.5 billion, a slight decrease of 0.2% from the previous year.
Raymond MaSouth China Morning PostFiled 2026-02-20 · 09:00 GMTLean · Center-RightRead · 1 min
SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST
Reading time
1min
Word count
85words
Sources cited
1cited
Entities identified
3entities
Quality score
100%
§ 01
Briefing Summary
AI-generatedNEWSAR · AI
In December 2025, the US trade deficit significantly widened, increasing 32.6% from November to US$70.3 billion, according to the US Commerce Department. This contributed to a total annual deficit of US$901.5 billion, a slight decrease of 0.2% from the previous year. Despite widespread tariffs, the annual goods trade deficit reached a record US$1.24 trillion, a 2.1% increase year-on-year. Notably, the goods trade deficit with China fell to a 21-year low during this period. These figures reflect the difference between US exports and imports of goods and services.
Confidence 0.70Sources 1Claims 5Entities 3
§ 02
Article analysis
Model · rule-basedFraming
Economic Impact
Tone
Measured
AI-assessed
CalmNeutralAlarmist
Factuality
0.90 / 1.00
Factual
LowHigh
Sources cited
1
Limited
FewMany
§ 03
Key claims
5 extracted01
December's gap is up 32.6 per cent from November.
statisticnull
Confidence
1.00
02
The gap between US exports and imports of goods and services hit US$70.3 billion in December.
statisticnull
Confidence
1.00
03
The goods trade deficit with China fell to a 21-year low.
factualnull
Confidence
1.00
04
The annual goods trade deficit rose by 2.1 per cent year on year to a record US$1.24 trillion in 2025.
statisticUS Commerce Department data
Confidence
1.00
05
US trade deficit widened sharply in December.
factualnull
Confidence
1.00
§ 04
Full report
1 min read · 85 words§ 05
Entities
3 identifiedKey playerOppositionContext
§ 06
Keywords & salience
6 termstrade deficit
1.00
us trade
0.80
goods trade deficit
0.70
exports and imports
0.60
tariffs
0.50
china
0.40
§ 07
Topic connections
Interactive graph Network visualization showing 51 related topics
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