Trade Deficit Narrows to $105 Billion in September, and Breitbart Argues Tariffs Are Working Once AI Data-Center Imports Are Set Aside
Breitbart's John Carney says the gap is 12.2 percent smaller through September than a year ago. He argues a surge in computer imports for the AI buildout hides a much bigger improvement, a point critics of the tariffs dispute.
America's trade deficit shrank unexpectedly in September, and Breitbart's John Carney says the details show President Trump's tariffs are doing what critics said they could not.
The numbers. The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that the deficit fell 0.7 percent to $105 billion, below the $108 billion economists expected. Exports rose 1.9 percent and imports rose 1.2 percent. Through September, the deficit is 12.2 percent smaller than a year earlier, or $92.4 billion less.
The AI wrinkle. Carney says the headline hides the trend because of heavy buying of AI equipment. Computer imports rose $7.6 billion in September, computer accessories $5.7 billion, and capital goods overall $11.6 billion.
The Furman charts. Carney cites charts posted Wednesday by Harvard economist Jason Furman. Through September the overall deficit is about 2.7 percent of GDP. Excluding what Furman calls data-center goods (computers, accessories, semiconductors and telecom equipment), it falls to 0.7 percent, against 2.2 percent for the same stretch of 2024. Carney says the goods-only deficit excluding that equipment is 1.8 percent of GDP, down from 3.3 percent in 2024.
His argument. Critics who point to the headline as proof of failure are "overlooking the transformation taking place inside it," he writes. He says many AI-related imports are exempt from the reciprocal tariffs, including computers, parts, semiconductors and specified networking equipment, and that a separate chip tariff exempts qualifying American data centers. He reads that as a policy that "makes prudent distinctions" while pushing for more domestic manufacturing, and as evidence the feared collapse in business investment did not happen.
The other side. This is an opinionated analysis, not a neutral data report. A Fox News report published the same week cites a New York Federal Reserve study that found tariffs added about 2.9 percentage points to prices across the consumer goods researchers examined. Smaller deficits and higher consumer prices can both be true. See: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/economy-ballot-3-charts-reveal-reality-voters-face-head-polls
What we could not check. We read most but not all of Carney's column, and we did not see the Commerce Department release or Furman's posts. Figures are as Breitbart reports them.