US foreign trade deficit below expectations in September

​​​​​​​ISTANBUL

The US foreign trade deficit in September was $52.8 billion, below the expectations of $62.5 billion, according to data released Thursday.

The country's foreign trade gap fell 10.9% from $59.3 billion in August, data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis showed.

Exports totaled $289.3 billion, up 3%, while imports amounted to $342.1 billion, rising 0.6%.

"The September decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $7.1 billion to $79.0 billion and a decrease in the services surplus of $0.6 billion to $26.2 billion," said the agency.

The US' balance with Switzerland shifted from a deficit of $0.1 billion in August to a surplus of $6.6 billion. Exports increased $7.1 billion to $10.8 billion and imports rose $0.3 billion to $4.1 billion.

The deficit with China decreased $4 billion to $11.4 billion. Exports were up $0.2 billion to $8.8 billion and imports fell $3.9 billion to $20.1 billion.

The data followed President Donald Trump's tariff policy, which imposed blanket levies on most nations and global sectoral tariffs on specific goods, such as copper, aluminum and auto parts.

He also made trade deals with the UK, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines, Japan, South Korea and the EU.

Trump has often spoken about using tariffs to bring down the US trade deficit.