Washington, Sept. 4 -- The US goods and services trade deficit surged 24.4 per cent to USD 88.6 billion in July, up USD 17.4 billion from a revised USD 71.2 billion in June, according to data released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) and the US Census Bureau.

The July increase came as US imports rose while exports declined during the month. Exports fell 2.1 per cent to USD 310.7 billion, while imports increased 2.8 per cent to USD 399.3 billion.

The data highlighted that the increase in the overall deficit was largely driven by a wider goods deficit. The goods deficit increased by USD 17.6 billion to USD 119.6 billion in July, while the services surplus rose by USD 0.2 billion to USD 31.0 billion.

"The U.S. Census Bureau and...