New Delhi, Feb. 20 -- The US trade deficit in December 2025 increased, marking the end of a year in which the overall gap between imports and exports remained largely unchanged despite efforts by US President Donald Trump's administration to reduce it, CNBC reported.

Marking an end to a volatile year in global markets, the US trade deficit in goods and services in December touched $70.3 billion, the Commerce Department said Thursday (local time). That was $17.3 billion higher than November and significantly exceeded the Dow Jones consensus estimate of $55.5 billion.

The official figures came a day after Trump announced on Truth Social that the US trade deficit had contracted sharply by 78%. On Wednesday (local time), he wrote, "The Unit...