Principal contributor: Mickey Francis

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), based on EIA’s Monthly Energy Review and data from the U.S. Census Bureau

In 2020, the U.S. net merchandise trade value of energy products—the value of petroleum, natural gas, coal, and electricity exports less the value of their imports—was a surplus of $27 billion. This amount marks the first time the value of U.S. energy exports exceeded imports since at least 1974, the earliest year in the U.S. Census Bureau’s trade value data.

In 2020, the U.S. net merchandise trade value of non-energy goods (which compares the value of all U.S. exports to all imports) reached a record $938 billion deficit, contributing to the record total U.S. net trade value deficit of $911 billion. Through the first six months of 2021, the U.S. net trade value of energy was a surplus of $9 billion, and non-energy trade was a deficit of $505 billion.