WASHINGTON — The U.S. trade deficit in goods and services narrowed more than 10% from August to September, as the Trump administration’s tariffs continued to weigh on trade, data from the Commerce Department showed Thursday.

Imports grew just 0.6% from August to $342.1 billion, while exports rose 3% in the month, to $289.3 billion. Because exports grew more than imports, the U.S. trade deficit shrank, in line with the Trump administration’s goals.

At $52.8 billion, the trade deficit in goods and services hit its lowest level in September since June 2020, when the United States was in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trade experts have cautioned against drawing too many conclusions from a few months of data and said that trade patterns have recently been distorted by businesses’ efforts to avoid paying tariffs.

Economists have also questioned the president’s focus on the trade deficit more broadly. Though President Donald Trump has long seen the trade deficit as a sign of economic weakness, many economists have criticized his views on the measure as simplistic or wrong.

The sweeping tariffs Trump has imposed on imports from countries around the world this year, including on cars, metals and furniture, have led to big swings in trade. Before tariffs went into effect, many American businesses brought in a surge of products, to avoid paying import taxes.

After Trump’s global tariffs went into effect Aug. 7, imports sharply slowed, before recovering somewhat in September. On Aug. 29, the Trump administration also ended the “de minimis” exemption, which allowed foreign shipments valued at less than $800 to come into the United States tariff-free. Opponents criticized the rule as a loophole that penalized U.S. manufacturers in favor of foreign competitors.

Since the tariffs went into effect, company stockpiles have allowed some firms to delay importing products. The aggressive buying earlier this year has also meant that the U.S. trade deficit is up significantly in 2025 so far.

For the year through September, the trade deficit in goods and services has widened more than 17% from the same period in 2024, the data, which is compiled by the Census Bureau, showed. Exports have risen 5.2%, while imports are up 7.7% for the time period.

It remains to be seen how much U.S. consumers and businesses will import in the months ahead, given the now-higher prices of foreign goods. As of November, the U.S. effective tariff rate had climbed to more than 16%, the highest level since 1935, according to the Budget Lab at Yale, making it significantly more expensive for importers to bring goods into the country.

Brad Setser, a trade expert at the Council on Foreign Relations, said the data showed “unambiguous weakness” in U.S. imports in September. “The question is how you want to interpret that,” he added. “Is this payback from the front running? Or are tariffs starting to have an impact?”

Setser said it was too early to answer that question, but that global trade data suggested that U.S. imports could rise again in the next few months, fueled partly by the purchase of foreign computers and chips to build data centers.

Administration officials have said that if those tariffs are struck down, they would use other authorities to impose duties.

Trump and his advisers continue to praise the economic benefit of tariffs.