The US trade deficit widened to $105.6B in August against $102B expected, and I wouldn't read it as the AI build widening the gap... at least not this month.
Goods imports rose $17.2B. Crude added $3.3B and nonmonetary gold $3.1B, and that gold is bullion moving between vaults, so it doesn't say much about demand for $XAU . Semiconductors added $2.4B, but computer accessories, the line most AI server imports land in, fell $1.6B, so chips and servers net out to under $1B of the jump.
Year to date the deficit is still 19.9% smaller than 2025, when everyone front-ran the tariffs. It's one month and September could easily swing it back. For $SMH and the rest of the chip trade I'll keep an eye on that server line, I think it's where the capex would show up first.
#TradeDeficit #Macro #AI #Gold
Goods imports rose $17.2B. Crude added $3.3B and nonmonetary gold $3.1B, and that gold is bullion moving between vaults, so it doesn't say much about demand for $XAU . Semiconductors added $2.4B, but computer accessories, the line most AI server imports land in, fell $1.6B, so chips and servers net out to under $1B of the jump.
Year to date the deficit is still 19.9% smaller than 2025, when everyone front-ran the tariffs. It's one month and September could easily swing it back. For $SMH and the rest of the chip trade I'll keep an eye on that server line, I think it's where the capex would show up first.
#TradeDeficit #Macro #AI #Gold