Trade Deficit Balloons in February

The US trade deficit widened to $47.1 billion in February, the Commerce Department said Tuesday.

Economists had estimated that the excess of imports over exports — or the trade deficit — increased to $46.2 from a revised, expanded print of $45.9 billion in the prior month.

"So far this quarter imports have rebounded more than exports, which is why we expect trade to subtract from Q1 GDP growth," said BNP Paribas' Laura Rosner in a note.

"Going into the trade report we estimated a 0.7pp drag on growth from net exports; today’s data suggests this estimate is tracking well, with a little risk of a larger subtraction," she said.

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