(MENAFN) The United States recorded a foreign trade deficit of $59.6 billion in August, falling short of market projections of $61.3 billion, according to official figures released Wednesday.

The nation's trade shortfall shrank by 23.8% compared to July's $78.2 billion, as reported by the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

In August, US exports reached $280.8 billion, marking a slight increase of 0.1%, while imports dropped by 5.1% to $340.4 billion.

"The August decrease in the goods and services deficit reflected a decrease in the goods deficit of $18.1 billion to $85.6 billion and an increase in the services surplus of $0.5 billion to $26.1 billion," the bureau stated.

The US goods trade deficit with Canada, one of its key trading partners, fell by $2.4 billion in August from the previous month, landing at $3 billion.

Other countries with which the US had trade deficits included Mexico ($16.3 billion), China ($15.4 billion), Vietnam ($14.4 billion), Taiwan ($12.2 billion), the EU ($8.1 billion), Japan ($5.7 billion), South Korea ($5 billion), India ($4.8 billion), Germany ($4.6 billion), Ireland ($3 billion), Malaysia ($1.8 billion), Italy ($1.6 billion), France ($1.2 billion), Israel ($400 million), and Switzerland ($100 million).

On the other hand, US trade partners running a surplus included the Netherlands ($5.1 billion), South and Central America ($4.9 billion), Hong Kong ($1.7 billion), Australia ($1.6 billion), Brazil ($1.2 billion), Singapore ($900 million), the UK ($800 million), Belgium ($500 million), and Saudi Arabia ($300 million).

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