The U.S. trade deficit dropped 6.2 percent to 58.5 billion dollars in April, the steepest drop since October, the Commerce Department reported Friday.

The April decline in the trade deficit, the gap between what the country imports and what it sells to the rest of the world, was led by a new record of exports, which totaled 129.5 billion dollars, up 0.2 percent from the previous month.

Imports dropped 1.9 percent to 188 billion dollars also helped rein the trade deficit.

By countries and areas, the U.S. trade deficit with Canada was up by 7.4 percent to 5.8 billion dollars in April. Its deficit with the European Union increased by 17.1 percent to 9 billion dollars.

For the first four months ending in April, the trade deficit ran at an annual rate of 705.9 billion dollars, compared to the all-time record of 758.9 billion dollars set last year.

Source: Xinhua